Tightrope
by Psychologically DysFUNctional
Summary: After a while, Katara's noticed her life was much like walking a tightrope. She was constantly trying to balance herself in a prejudice world where she doesn't belong, swaying back and forth on her iffy knowledge of the people she thought she knew. In a long run, she knows she's going to fall. She could just only hope someone was there to catch her on the way down. Zutara.
1. Act One: I

**A/N: Hey guys! Welcome! *pushes welcome mat on chapter* Welcome my first Avatar story (I know, something nobody wants to hear)! This story has a lot of AU qualities, but most things are kept from the actual series.** T**his story doesn't follow any sequence of events to the series. Katara and Zuko do not meet the same way as in the series, and a whole lot of other stuff too doesn't happen the way it does in the series.** **Ya' know. After a while I got bored of the whole: Katara is traveling with Aang when—oh noes! **

**A wild Evilseasonone Prince Zuko appears! **

**Evilseasonone Prince Zuko uses Capture on Katara! **

**It's super effective!**

…O.O *sanitycheck*

**ONWARD.**

**Signed,**

**-Oten**

**Warning:***_**OOC**_**, OCs, AU, violence, gore, swearing, sexual **_**implications**_

_*Because, damn it, it has been a while since I've last watched ATLA. Please, feel free to correct me when things get OOC to a point it's unbearable. I will try to keep them as in character as I can muster._

_**Disclaimer**__: I totes own Avatar: The Last Airbender…in my head._

* * *

_**Tightrope**_

_**Act One: I**_

_The First Act_

* * *

_A good fortune may forbade bad luck, which may in turn disguise a good fortune._

* * *

_"__**C**__ome on girls, let's get ready! I do __not __have all day!"_

Madam Hui-Fang's loud, commanding voice and clapping hands gained the attention of the young Waterbender. Bright blue eyes lowered in exhaustion before getting up out of the ornate stool and stretching. She closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of her muscles flexing before Madam Hui-Fang's voice interrupted her.

"Katara! What part of 'we are on a _short time limit' _do you not understand?"

Katara resisted a retort and settled for clamping her teeth on her tongue. She briskly walked over to the door in the far right corner of the small dressing room. Girls, dressed in more than revealing clothes, bustled past her wearing similar ornate costumes. Their faces were all done the same—bright red lipstick, soft blush over their cheeks—and their hair—a traditional Fire Nation topknot with many hair decorations—was also identical. They looked like clones with their pale faces, bone-straight black hair and golden eyes. Katara was the only one that stood out like a sore thumb.

That, of course, being because was the only Water Tribe person who worked for Madam Hui-Fang's Traveling Circus. Her tanned skin, wavy brown hair and blue eyes didn't fit in with the rest of the people in Fire Nation Province One. It was for this very reason Katara wasn't a performer in the circus. Of course not—being Water Tribe was a disgrace in this world. Having an element opposing Fire, the dominant element, was something to be ashamed of, even though this was well out of one's control.

So Katara was assigned to sit around in the shadow of each circus act, hidden below the lights, where she would serve as some type of marionette. She had the ability to bend blood,—one of the few pros to being a Waterbender—to correct and make the dancers move just as Madam Hui-Fang wanted them to. The blue-eyed girl was the very main reason why Madam Hui-Fang's circus has been excelling and gaining popularity in the past 9 years she's been there. Not that Madam Hui-Fang admitted this—she never admitted anything to anyone.

"_Katara_!"

A thin, bony hand clutched the red, cottony material that was Katara's shirt. Madam Hui-Fang, despite being an aged, old woman, possessed the strength of a hundred Master Earthbenders when she was irritated. Madam Hui-Fang's wrinkled face twisted with frustration, black-painted lips curling back in an animalistic snarl.

"You're holding up the show, _Waterbender_!" she hissed, releasing Katara's shirt with a push. The elderly woman straightened out her sleeves before turning on her heel and walking out the dressing room door.

Katara balled her fists together, glaring holes into Madam Hui-Fang's retreating back. Only if looks could kill…Agni, how that ungrateful, old _hag _irritated her! She barely resisted bending the blood in Madam Hui-Fang's arms so that she let go of her shirt. Brushing off her anger, she slipped out of the door and went outside, the dry, brittle grass crunching underneath her feet. Katara let out a breath of air, trying her best to enjoy the short walk from the dressing room tent to the biggest tent in the area where the dancers would perform. There was loud chatter everywhere, nobles and commoners alike flooding into the bright red tent. The smell of fruit tarts and cinnamon wafted into the air, making Katara's mouth water.

When was the last time she ate? She cleared her mind, recalling the breakfast she had that morning and the leftover scraps from last night's performance she had in the afternoon. Her stomach rumbled at the thought of the cream-filled pastries. Yes, they were a little stale, but it was better than the cheap slop-for-food Madam Hui-Fang always had shipped in for them.

'_Food from boxes…that's not even food anymore.' _She thought, reminiscing on the stomach ache she got the first night she ate the mysterious foods in the packages.

A stiff wind blew long, brown tresses over her shoulder and into her face, reminding her of the slap Madam Hui-Fang was sure to give her if she took any more time getting to the tent.

She let her feet carry her over to the large, red tent where music, up-beat and cheery, played loudly. She went around the back entrance and opened the flap. The performers were quickly rehearsing their acts, some chatting endlessly, others sitting down and brooding over the fact their life goals has been condensed to living and traveling in a circus with a witch for a ringmaster. The sweet smell of baked bread and sweets wafted strongly around the small area, leaving Katara's mouth to water again.

'_Spirits,_' she thought, unconsciously placing a hand over her growling stomach._ 'I hadn't eaten since this afternoon.' _

Katara cracked her knuckles and stretched her fingers, preparing for a long session of Bloodbending. She thanked Agni it was a Full Moon that day. Her Bloodbending would be superb compared to the other days where she was forced to Bloodbend without one.

She raised her arms in a fluid motion, watching as the water in all of the cups and small fountains rose accordingly. Some performers stopped what they were they were doing to watch her exercises, but most others could care less. In Katara's nine years of being in the circus, they found her Waterbending to be dull and boring after watching her do it before every show.

She moved the water around in small circles before spreading out fingers, watching as the clear liquids moved accordingly. She moved her hands around again and the water began to loop around each other, doing neat Figure Eights.

"Katara!"

The floating water splashed to the ground as the young, 19-year old bender jerked back in surprise. She turned around with wide blue eyes before relaxing. She held a hand against her chest, sighing heavily. Bright eyes stared into even brighter ones.

"Ty Lee, you scared the crap out of me!" Katara breathed out, steadying her breath.

Ty Lee, the professional acrobat and expert contortionist, smiled apologetically, giggling softly. She scratched the back of her head.

"Sorry, Kat."

Katara shook her head before putting on a smile of her own, resting her hand on the taller female's shoulder. She could never stay mad at Ty Lee for more than a couple of moments—her childish smiles were contagious.

"It's alright. For a moment there, I thought you were Madam Hui-Fang." she added on a lower note. Ty Lee's smile widened.

"I'm not exactly sure when I started looking like a rhinopotamus, but okay."

Katara grinned comfortably. Ty Lee was one of the very few people in the circus that actually saw her as an equal, not to mention a friend. Everyone else seemed to just see her as 'The Water Tribe girl' rather than Katara, the "Bloodbender" rather than the human, teenage girl she was. Since the moment Katara joined the circus nine long years ago, Ty Lee's never called her "Water Tribe scum" or "dirty Waterbending peasant" or anything alike, she was immediately accepting of Katara and her deteriorating cultures. Ty Lee was one of the few reasons Katara hadn't left Madam Hui-Fang's circus yet.

Well, that and she didn't have anywhere else to go.

Ty Lee's gleeful face softened, but excitement sparkled in her eyes.

"Guess what I heard!" she exclaimed suddenly. Katara slid her hand off of the taller woman's shoulder and tapped her finger on her chin thoughtfully.

"Am I finally going to be able to go to sleep for a full nine hours without being waking up by a screaming rhinopotamus?"

Ty Lee shook her head, a smirk plastered on her from Katara's jibe.

"Nope. It's something great, but not _that _great."

"Huh…I don't know. Tell me."

Ty Lee leaned in close to Katara, their shoulders brushing. "Well," she drawled. "I heard from the grapevine that some of the Fire Lord's advisors were in the audience. Not to mention two noble families that is close to the Royal Family."

Katara raised an eyebrow and folded her arms. She looked up to meet Ty Lee's big brown eyes with a questioning stare m.

"…And?"

Ty Lee looked at Katara with a blank expression, an expression that was foreign to Katara when it came to Ty Lee.

"'_And_?'" she repeated, throwing her arms up into the air. "Katara! You silly head—" Ty Lee pressed her hands against Katara's forehead. "—if these nobles like our show enough, they can suggest it to the Fire Lord! Maybe the Royal Family will come and see us! We'll be a bigger hit than we already are!"

Katara blinked.

"Well, if you say it that w—"

"Ladies! Gentlemen! It's time for the First Act!" Madam Hui-Fang's shrill voice interrupted their conversation. She clapped her manicured hands together. "Hurry up! Hurry up! We have a show to run!"

Ty Lee quickly gave Katara a hug before following the rest of the people into the main flap. Katara sighed, suddenly tired, before trailing a couple of feet behind the group. She waited until the group of performers assembled together in a straight line—they only did that to obscure her—before walking out and traveling behind the pathway of backs and onto a platform behind a red curtain. A single, worn, wooden seat was in the middle of platform. That was where she bended.

Katara ran her tanned fingers through the muss that was her hair. She didn't have the time to fix her hair before the performance.

Not that they'd be seeing her anyway.

Loud drums clashed in unison, acoustics booms echoing throughout the full circus tent. This would be the fourth time all week that the circus was completely full, to the point where people began to sit on the floor due to the lack of seats. Madam Hui-Fang said she would invest in more seats when Katara had brought to subject up a few weeks ago, but the Waterbender knew that was utter komodo rhino shit. The old hag was unbelievably cheap and left all possible luxuries to herself.

There was a loud applaud before the drums rolled. She scurried over to her seat, stretching her fingers one last time before closing her eyes. Bloodbending was like her sixth sense. She quickly picked up the flowing blood from the set of 20 performers. Madam Hui-Fang was really planning on taxing her that night, most of the time Act One only held ten or less people—today's one was double.

'_No big deal,' _she thought reassuringly. _'I can do this.'_

Recalling the choreography she's been forced to sit through, she replayed each fluid movement over in her head. Her fingers moved in spidery motions, dancing along with the performers in front of the curtain. Whenever she felt someone was out of synch, she would quickly move a single finger in the right direction, correcting the dancers mistakes before anyone in the crowd could notice. Sometimes she felt as if they hardly even practiced—it had been the first 3 minutes and already she had to correct over fifteen mistakes!

The time ticked by, and the end of _Act One_—which mostly consisted of interpretive dancing, acrobats, contortionists and trapeze artists—neared. Up next was _Act Two_, and she would then be able have a break. _Act Two_ was made up of benders who used their powers to put on beautiful performances and lightshows, there were comedians and music and small skits. Katara was usually able to sit throughout _Act Two_ with Ty Lee, seeing that the young acrobat was only needed during _Act One _and _Act Three_.

The drums sounded, indicating the end of _Act One_, and Katara let her tired arms drop at her sides. She pressed her sweaty back against the wooden chair, letting out a tired breath. She was taxed, and despite the moon being full in the sky, she already wanted to throw in the white flag. Loud footsteps grew closer, and a happy squeal let Katara know that Ty Lee arrived. Not missing a beat in her stride, Ty Lee did a front flip, ending in a split with her hands outstretched. She flashed Katara a smile.

"Ta-da!" she chimed, motioning towards the small bag of fruit tarts in her hand. The Waterbender readily took it and popped the flakey pastry into her mouth, savoring the apple and cinnamon taste. After putting about two more in her mouth, Katara paused, realizing that she hadn't offered any to Ty Lee. She wiped the sugar off of her mouth with her hand, looking down at the one pastry left.

"Oops…" she muttered under her breath. She rubbed the back of her neck, embarrassed at the way she guzzled the snacks down. She half expected a "Water Tribe peasant" joke, but she quickly remembered this was Ty Lee she was talking to. "Uh…did you want some…?" _'Not that there's much left…'_

Ty Lee shook her head. "Uh-uh, that's alright. I ate before I came here."

Katara then picked up the last pastry and put it to her lips, taking small bites in hope to redeem herself for the way shoveled her food down like a wild animal.

An hour passed, and _Act Two _was over. _Act Three _flew by just as fast, and Katara was exhausted. That was an understatement. But her underpaying job wasn't done yet. She stood unsteadily by the circus flap's main entrance, next to a giddy Ty Lee and the somber-looking boy who tamed the tigerdillos and boar-q-pines.

She watched the people go, relieved that after the last customer left, she would be able to flop down on the not-so-soft mat waiting for her in the sleeping tents. Just the very thought made her drowsy. She leaned forward, slowly closing hers eyes before jerking awake. She rubbed her heavy eyelids, cursing the excessive amounts of Bloodbending she had to do that day.

Ty Lee gave Katara a concerned, questioning look. Too tired to even speak, Katara just blinked her eyes at her friend and went back to waving people goodbye. Soon, the crowd that had once filled the circus thinned out, the last few people being those who stayed back to give compliments to the owner. Katara watched from glazed eyes as a man, probably around thirty or so, chatted ardently with Madam Hui-Fang, in which who—surprisingly—talked back with equal enthusiasm. Katara rose an eyebrow at this, her drowsiness soon forgotten. Madam Hui-Fang was seldom caught talking to anyone in a civilized manner, let alone caught enjoying that conversation.

Katara glanced beside her, looking at Ty Lee. She, along with the stable boy, too were entranced by what they assumed was a polite conversation from Madam Hui-Fang that didn't involve a screaming fest. Katara turned back to the odd scene before her, and then—great Spirits—Madam Hui-Fang _laughed_.

There was a small chortle from her partner, and then he glanced her way.

'_Oh, sweet Agni.'_

It wasn't a normal glance and by far, it was not innocent. She's seen people look at her that way before, and she did everything but enjoy it. She resisted a small shiver.

'_Too old,' _she thought, looking at his face when he turned away. _'…I'll be damned.'_

Madam Hui-Fang pointed her way, and he nodded. She heard Ty Lee snicker beside her.

"Kat, looks like you've got an admirer." Ty Lee teased, a mischievous grin taking over her bubbly features. She flicked her long braid out of her way before putting her hand on Katara's shoulder. "You should totally go for it."

Katara's mind reeled and she visibly paled. He looked like one of those snobbish Fire Nation Mainland nobles who went to the Provinces to look for another whore to add to his harem. A small pit of fire started at the pit of her stomach. She'd fight him, tooth and nail, if he thought she was some cheap slut that he could just waltz in and buy.

Madam Hui-Fang led the younger man in Katara's direction and she noticeably stiffened, dismay written all over her face. The stable boy snorted and walked out of the tent, his laughter loud in the night sky.

Madam Hui-Fang was in her usual attire—a black, silken robe, black paint around the top lid of her eyes, and black painting her thin, caving lips. White etched Madam Hui-Fang's hairline and small amber irises peaked underneath black lashes. Her sunken, wrinkled cheeks had a white powder on it, making her look more hollow than the elderly woman did on a daily basis. The man beside her, as Katara now confirmed, was indeed the noble man she suspected he was. He wore black, red and gold robes, and his black hair was thrown up into a top knot. A black beard covered his jaw and his amber eyes made her feel uncomfortably smothered.

Madam Hui-Fang cleared her throat. "Katara," the younger girl noted that she didn't call her '_Waterbender scum_'. "I would like you to meet Zhang Qiang of the Fire Nation Mainland and successor of the Qiang family fortune." Madam Hui-Fang brushed imaginary dust off of her shoulders. "His father, Lee Qiang, is an advisor of the Fire Lord and they hold close relations to the Royal Family." A ghost of a crooked smile crossed over her elderly face. "Zhang here mightily enjoyed our humble circus's performance and would inform the Fire Lord of us in…_exchange_…for your acquaintance."

Katara bristled at 'exchange". She wasn't some _object _to be _exchanged_! She was a _human being_! She bristled, but decided to keep her mouth shut. Bringing the Fire Lord to Madam Hui-Fang's Traveling Circus was honor, and from the slightly peeved look Hui-Fang held, she could guess she had to use her horrible negotiation skills to convince Zhang to speak to the Fire Lord about something as trivial as a circus.

Zhang bowed just the slightest to her. Katara stood still for a couple of beats, her brain still trying to process what the hell was going on, and wouldn't have moved hadn't Ty Lee forced her to. It was an awkward bow, but a bow nonetheless.

Zhang grabbed her hand a pressed a kiss onto it. Katara nearly died and resisted the urge to snatch her hand away. Ty Lee struggled against bursting out in laughter. Her face was red from the strain. Madam Hui-Fang threw Katara a nasty glare, silencing any protests she had about Zhang's actions. He released her hand, amber eyes flicking upwards to meet hers. She inwardly cringed.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Katara."

Katara discreetly wiped her hand on her blue robes.

"Uh…it is a pleasure to meet you, too, Zhang."

He seemed pleased by this.

Agni, take her now.

* * *

"_**L**__adies! Gentlemen! Up, up, up! We've a long journey ahead of us! Up, _now_ everyone!"_

Distinct clapping arose Katara from her much needed sleep. She grumbled, rolling over to her side, nuzzling into her pillow.

…Which turned out to be another woman's breast.

She jolted awake, rapidly apologizing and gathering the things from the crowded sleeping tent. The sun just began to peek over the horizon line—barely casting any light onto the grassy clearing where a great circus had been last night— and the sky was heavy with clouds. She quickly ran her fingers through her long, brown locks, trying her best to untangle them while slipping on her wooden sandals and packing her little personal items at the same time. Long story short, she haphazardly fell to the ground and had to repack everything.

Ty Lee, already bouncy and cheery, bounded up to Katara, flashing a great big smile. Katara tried to flash one of her own, but she ended up looking constipated—as Ty Lee so sorely put it—and decided against it. She just wasn't a morning person and her bed hair was getting on her last nerves.

The stable boy from last night, Katara had yet to learn his name, looked just as bad as she did, and Katara found some comfort knowing that she wasn't the only person that looked like they've been attacked by a herd of badger moles.

"Which—" his voice cracked from disuse. Embarrassed, he cleared his throat. "Which Province are we traveling to today?"

"We're not going to any of the Fire Nation Provinces." She said, her voice laced with unbidden pride.

He raised a brown eyebrow, a small look of disgust evident on his face.

"We're going to the Fire Nation _Regions_, then?"

"How about the Fire Nation Mainland?"

His eyes widened.

"But we can't—how did we—The Mainland—we have to—ugh."

He threw his hands up in defeat and continued packing.

Katara would rather not think about what happened the night before. It had been one of the most awkward hours she's ever lived through. She never thought she would wish death upon someone—let alone herself—until yesterday. Her night was made up of a thirty year-old man continuously trying to touch her breasts, that same thirty year-old man suggestively bringing up concubines and harems, and this thirty year-old man getting kicked in the balls "on accident" the moment he sent the messenger hawk to the Fire Nation Mainland, inviting the Fire Lord to their not-so-humble circus.

Katara jogged up beside Ty Lee, helping her strap the circus tent onto the backs of the badger mole. In a matter of an hour, she and Ty Lee sat on an ostrich horse behind the long line of people, animals, carts and cages with wheels. They were moving away from their stay in the Province One Capital, Ba Sing Se, and all the way to Rèdài Harbor.

The journey was long. The sun had drifted high into the sky, and then sank below the horizon twice before the group of circus folks made it close to the harbor. As they neared the dock where they would embark on their journey to the Fire Nation Mainland, the crowds of people in the towns became denser. Katara relished watching the adults and children cheer and hoot at the animals and acrobats that passed through their humble village. On top of the white ostrich horse, next to Ty Lee, Katara smiled shyly, not used the rapt attention people were giving her. Her partner, on the other hand, grinned broadly, waving her hand and occasionally shouting "Hi!" out into the crowd.

Some kind circus folks went as far as juggling on the backs of other animals, just to see the children smile, but Madam Hui-Fang would have none of it. She quickly quelled the kind performers, threatening their jobs if they didn't stop. Since nobody was tossing any money at them, she didn't want any of her performers monkeying around for the joy of it.

By the third sunrise, Katara could feel the soft push and pull of the waves from the harbor. She closed her eyes blissfully, the salty smell of the sea drifting into her nose and her lungs. She stretched her arms and her legs on the back of the ostrich horse. The animal nickered gently in protest of her movements. Katara ran her tanned fingers down the side of its face, silencing the elegant creature.

The sun was just a little above the horizon, a magnificent golden-orange glow casted over the small houses and dirt roads of Rèdài Harbor. The only sounds of life, the tiny birds squawking in the peach sky and the rhythmic footsteps of the badger moles, soothed Katara into an idyllic trance. Her hands repeatedly smoothed over the ostrich horse's white feathers, the creature letting out soft neighs of pleasure and content. Gradually, the line of animals came to a halt. Katara snapped her attention away from the animal beneath her, staring at the looming darkness wading in the ocean. It was a large Fire Nation Mainland ship, and from the elegant red and black colors and hefty size, she could deduce this ship was sent from the Fire Lord himself for the animals and performers.

Well, that and the reputable Lieutenant Jee standing at the head of the ship, waving at the merry band of circus folks.

After tapping Ty Lee's sleeping figure gently, Katara hopped off of the ostrich horse, her companion joining her on the ground moments later. The young Waterbender stretched her legs and yawned, closing her eyes in delight as a warm mid-summer breeze blew messy brown locks in different directions.

Ty Lee, as usual, took no time in returning to her bright mood, almost as if she were never sleeping just a minute ago. She lightly shook her head, wondering how Ty Lee could fit so much energy in her petite body. She slung her small bag on her back and began walking slowly, staring at the Fire Nation ship the whole time. The ship looked so…off in the serene harbor. It was like an ugly black stain on a beautiful picture, and the more you tried to wipe it off, the more it smudged until it just flat out destroyed the whole thing.

She huffed just the slightest, her eyes still trained on the ship. She's never been to the Mainland before and she could well admit she was a bit intimidated by the thought. The people out in the Provinces were already prejudice enough against Water Tribe people, and the Provinces were a melting pot of half-breed citizens. But in the Fire Nation…she could already feel the stones pelting into her tanned skin. In Province One, people disliked Water Tribe people because they were thought of as unlucky, the very equivalent to a black spider-cat. It was because in the long 85-Year battle—the 85 years it took for the Fire Nation to conquer the other continents (now Provinces and Regions)—Waterbenders were the first race of people the Fire Nation wanted to wipe out. The other nations took pity on the Waterbenders and allowed them into their homes with open arms. An enemy of an enemy is friend, right? But it didn't exactly work that way for them.

'_A Fire Nation soldier is always just a step behind a Waterbender,' _she remembered a rickety, old man—probably traumatized by war—saying once. _'And where there's a Waterbender, there's trouble. Leave'em behind and you'll be alright. Leave'em _behind_ and they'll leave ya' _alone_.'_

Sweat gathered in her palms, her skin feeling clammy. Goosebumps dotted her arms, a cold shiver running up her spine despite the welcoming warm breezes of summer. She didn't feel so keen on meeting the Fire Lord anymore. The image of him melting her right on the spot flickered through her mind. She'd be defenseless. All the water in the ocean couldn't help her win a fight against the Fire Lord. She wasn't properly trained, and it was illegal for people to practice any other bending besides fire.

'_I'd just sit there,' _she thought, swallowing a lump in her throat. _'And he'll burn me into a crisp for being Water Tribe.'_

She was already at the mouth of the ship, but she unconsciously stopped in her tracks, fiddling with her fingers. Ty Lee gave a Katara a soft push, probably noticing how out-of-it Katara was, and led her into the ship. Katara quickly thanked Ty Lee, trying to ignore the stare Lieutenant Jee was giving her.

'_Oh, Agni…please don't stone me, please don't stone me, please don't stone me…'_

She couldn't imagine where he'd find a bundle of stones on a metal ship, but she wouldn't be surprised if he kept a stash underneath his mattress. Mainlanders were weird like that.

Madam Hui-Fang waddled up onboard and moved next to Lieutenant Jee, nodding her head at his words before shuffling over to the pair.

"Your rooms," she began once she reached the two. "Are below deck. Since there is only _so _much space on this ship, you will be sharing your rooms with the other _ladies_," She stressed, her eyes narrowing at Katara. The young Waterbender felt her lips pull down in a frown. "I don't know how they do it in your backwards, primitive iceberg, but I won't have any of my workers knocked up."

Katara's mouth opened, ready to snarl something back, defending her honor and the Water Tribe when Madam Hui-Fang lifted her chin, turned right around, and walked over to the next group of people as if nothing had ever happened. She let her mouth hang open. In the nine years she's known Madam Hui-Fang, she could _never _grow used to her pointless retorts.

Ty Lee rested her hand on Katara's shoulder and gave it a light squeeze.

"C'mon," she said gently, watching as the last of the people and animals climbed on deck. "Let's just go below deck, and you can vent _all_ of your anger in the bathtub."

Despite herself, Katara smiled.

* * *

_**K**__atara had agreed to sleep on the floor so Ty Lee could share a bed with two different girls._ They had insisted the _Waterbender _sleep on the floor, and the _Fire Nation people_ sleep where only civilized people belonged—on a bed. Worn from Madam Hui-Fang's jibe and from the over exertion in the tub—it surprisingly helped a lot, she was planning on doing this more often—she didn't give them the cutting reply they deserved and just laid a blanket out on the floor. But Ty Lee would have none of it. In place of her friend, Ty Lee put the two in their places—the look on their faces when Ty Lee started cursing like a sailor was _priceless_—and snatched the covers from underneath them, laying it out on the cold floor beside Katara.

Warmth swelled in Katara's stomach.

"You really didn't have to do that, you know. I'm used to it." The girl said softly, after the two other women found another companion and went to sleep.

Ty Lee still looked a bit riled up, a small frown evident on her pink lips.

"I know," she said, taking in a small breath of air. "But they deserved it. You've done nothing wrong to them, and they don't like you just _because _you're Water Tribe. It's not fair."

There was a comfortable pause. Katara closed her eyes, a small smile on her lips.

"Ty Lee, where would I be without you?"

"Absolutely _nowhere_."

The next morning had been a hassle. All of the girls fought over the bathroom, and had been stepping all over each other getting out of the beds. The stable girls had to rush down to the very last floor beneath the deck to wash and take care of the animals early in the morning and they've been taking their precious time in the bathroom. Ty Lee decided to stick around until the bathroom was open, but Katara decided she'll wait until the problem cleared up before bathing. She stepped up on the deck and walked over by the rail. She peered down into the ocean, watching the waves slosh along the sides of the ship. After about thirty minutes, she went back inside to go bathe, and then lunch and supper were served later, seeing that she missed breakfast earlier and someone ate her portion.

The next nine days followed in the same routine: wake up, eat breakfast, fight over the bathroom, practice Waterbending, lunch, _more Waterbending_ (much to Jee's displeasure), talk with Ty Lee, supper and stay up late into the night, thinking about the stones and racism she was sure to see once she made it into the Mainland. The more and more she thought about it, the more and more her cruel mind got creative. Maybe they wouldn't just pelt her with stones. Maybe they'd tie her up with a rope, connect the rope to an ostrich horse and then let the animal drag her around the Mainland Capital until she bled to death. Or would they cram her in some metal box and Firebend it until she cooked like a piece of chicken over a fire? Would they chain her to a wooden pole and then set the pole on fire? Would the Fire Lord do this himself? She know he could do this without effort. She heard of his legendary white flames somewhere in the grapevine. One blast of _those _and she was dead. Charred. Nothing but a black skeleton. Ashes even. One more Waterbender dead by a fire. One more Waterbender reduced to embers—

'_Not now Katara,' _she said, taking in even breaths, wiping the sweat away from her brow, rubbing it on the pillow beneath her. _'I'm going into the Mainland tomorrow morning. I'll see what happens then.'_

She closed her eyes, letting her mind fall into a disturbed sleep. She tossed and turned in her bed, her usual nightmares consuming her mind once again. She always connected these dreams with being a war orphan. She only knew she was Water Tribe from what people told her—for all she knew, she could be mixed with Province One or Province Two blood—and the little memories from her days back in the Water Tribe she could recall.

Not that there was much memories to recall anyways, since she was a toddler around the time when she escaped the Southern Water Tribe (now Fire Nation Region Two).

Hell, she didn't even _know _when her birthday was, let alone how old she was. Ty Lee made up her birthday for her (January 3rd) and just settled for any age she looked like when she arrived in Province One. She wasn't exactly clear on _how _she made it to Province One (though she guessed someone must've smuggled her in with cargo or exports of some sorts) or _how _she managed to even make those seven years alone in Province One after the war had ended (any Water Tribe people found were either executed or imprisoned after the war).

Katara didn't know much about her life in the Water Tribe. She knew she had a mom, a dad…and a brother? Or was it a sister? A pet? It was unclear to her.

A loud, but distant, bell woke Katara out of her rest. She slowly awoke and rubbed her eyes, yawning tiredly. She felt drained, like she had no sleep whatsoever the night before. She glanced over to the line at the bathroom. It was short, and from the looks of it, it must've been early morning. She slowly sat all the way up, being careful not to wake Ty Lee.

'_I should bathe now.' _She thought while rising to her feet. The line would be long later, and she didn't have the patience anymore to wait for thirty minutes just to _pee_. She shuffled over the bathroom door and opened it, stretching her arms and legs with each stride. Katara hopped into the shower, enjoying the exceptionally warm water and scented soaps and shampoos, before stepping out with a towel wrapped around her shapely body.

She got dressed—throwing on a green Province One shirt and skirt—and sat back down on the floor, waiting for Ty Lee to wake up. An hour later, the acrobat did. An hour later, breakfast was served. An hour later, they arrived at the Fire Nation Mainland.

* * *

_**E**__xtravagant._ Beautiful. Elegant. Complex. Fancy. Expensive. Luxurious.

Katara didn't possess the knowledge of enough words to describe the Mainland's beauty. The streets were paved with cobblestone, the buildings' rooftops lined with gold. Each house and store held a rich red, brown or black color to it, beautiful designs carved into the sides of the walls. The architecture was just plain beautiful, every little structure looking like a mini-palace compared to the run-down homes and straw huts she was used to seeing in Province One. The sky was tawny and a light gold from the rising sun. The houses seemed almost _built _to reflect the dawn's sunlight in the most painfully beautiful way; her eyes were watering from the sparkling gold that lined the building.

But never mind the buildings, the people in the Mainland were remarkably ornamental. They were all adorned in black and royal red silk, besides the guards that walked about, of course. The women wore long dresses and skirts that reached down to their boots while the men wore loose robes. Mainland commoners made Province One nobles look like peasants.

Katara glanced beside her only to see her companion's bored face. She was slightly perplexed at how one could just ignore the sight before her so easily, but then she had to remember that Ty Lee was born in the Mainland, only running away because of arranged marriages and the search of freedom and individuality. Ty Lee wasn't very fond of the Mainland, and Katara was silly for forgetting this fact.

"Ladies, gentlemen!" a loud clapping noise followed the raspy voice. Katara didn't even have to turn around to know that this was Madam Hui-Fang, but she did anyways. Hui-Fang, as usual, was dressed in all black. Her lips coated in black, her eyes lines with black, and her razor sharp nails repainted in black. The only difference between Hui-Fang-being-fancy and Hui-Fang-being-casual was the black flower that rested in her hair, and the shimmering black shawl she threw over her narrow shoulders. She looked like walking death and stood out even more than Katara, which the Waterbender thought was impossibly.

'_Count on Hui-Fang to make a scene,' _she thought, watching Madam Hui-Fang clap her hands in one of her performers' faces. The wrinkled old lady sighed and pushed her way to the front of the group. She stopped at the head of the circus folks, and with one hand, she halted them.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you to the beautiful Fire Nation Mainland's Capital!" she threw her hands out beside her and did a swirl, her black dress swaying around her. Not very surprisingly, the Mainlanders paid the bat-shit crazy woman no mind, beside the occasional glance. Of course, the richer people did not concern themselves with those below them. They were not worthy of their time.

…But they'd be worthy of Katara's fist pretty damn _soon_ if they didn't stop staring at her like she was some type of caged bear lion!

'_They've probably never seen a Water Tribe person before.' _the logical part of her brain tried to reason. This was highly likely since most of the Water Tribe people were either dead or held behind bars where they would rot for being born. The irrational part of her brain wanted to Bloodbend their faces to the cobblestone and make them walk that way until their faces bled.

Or tore completely off, whichever came first.

Ty Lee laid a calming hand on Katara's shoulder, her absence of a cheerful smile making Katara uneasy.

"Just ignore them," she said emotionlessly. Katara nodded slowly, walking ahead, trying her best to ignore the whispers and fingers pointing in her direction.

Hui-Fang continued talking.

"We'll be performing at night, so I'm giving you all a chance to explore the city. To those who are not helping set up the tents, be back in the Capital's Square by the very beginning of sundown. _Or else_."

Hui-Fang's threat was left in the air as she briskly paced away, leaving the circus folks to wander around. Ty Lee walked first, Katara following at her heel. The Mainlander girl glanced back at Katara, a smile consuming her face, a mischievous glint in her brown eyes.

"We should go shopping."

Katara looked away. The last time she had gone shopping with Ty Lee, she had spent all of her money in a couple of minutes. Oh _no_, Katara needed her money to buy some food later because Hui-Fang's slop-for-food had been assigned to be shipped to the Fire Nation Mainland. And by Agni she swore, she was _not _eating that, and she was _not _going to bed hungry. Not after a long session of Bloodbending she was sure to ensue.

Reading her thoughts, Ty Lee shook her head.

"Don't worry, I'll pay for our stuff."

This would only make Katara feel bad for spending Ty Lee's money.

"Oh no, Ty Lee—I can't just prance around the market and just _spend all of your _money."

"You wouldn't be _spending all of my money _to begin with," she pulled out a sack from her pink tunic and poured out its contents. It was gold coins. Her expression read: _'Noble, remember?' _"And two, we won't be _prancing around the market_, I used to live around here and came to the market all of the time. I know all of the best places!" she let out a girlish squeal, leaving no room for argument as she dragged Katara off into the square.

They stopped by nearly every vendor open during that hour.

'"_We won't be prancing around the market"…' _Katara thought humorlessly as they stopped to the nineteenth clothes vendor. The brunette squealed feverishly over a dark red skirt decorated with gold jingly-things around the waist band. She handed the man a gold coin and all but ran to the next one. Katara snorted, irritated, but amused at her hyperactive companion. _'Yeah right, Ty Lee. We're just a skip and hop away from prancing around the market!'_

"Katara! Com'ere! _Looketdis_!" an excited shriek came from the other side of the market. Katara ducked her head low, trying to attract the least bit of attention from the people around her and failing miserably.

'_Oh, this better be _good_, Ty Lee.' _She thought darkly, hearing a couple of people gasp and whisper _"Water Tribe!" _on her journey to the next merchant.

Ty Lee turned towards Katara and grinned brightly, showing off the object in her hands. It was a silver bracelet with a small, blue gem hanging off of it. It sparkled and shone in the golden sunlight, nearly as blinding as the houses there. Katara's hand flew to her mouth while Ty Lee attached the bracelet to her thin wrist.

"Ty Lee, you didn't have to…"

"I know," she grinned lopsidedly, handing the trader a good portion of her spending. "But I wanted to."

Katara took Ty Lee in a big bear hug, saying _"thank you, thank you, thank you" _for Agni knows how long. That is, until she felt a small tug on the bottom of her skirt. She pulled away from her friend, turning behind her to meet her interrupter. Blue eye's flickered downward at a small Mainland girl openly staring at her. But it wasn't one of the open stares she's gotten from the teenagers and adults, the one's filled with malice and disgust. Her stare was rapt and filled with adoring fascination. Her small mouth even hung open just the slightest.

"You have _really_ pretty eyes, ma'am."

Katara slightly flinched. The last thing she expected from any Mainlander was a _compliment_. Maybe a backwards compliment, but never an innocent one. Regaining her composure, Katara smiled down at the little girl.

"Thank you."

"I wish _I _had blue eyes," she continued, a small pout evident on her face. Katara inwardly sighed. If only the girl knew the consequences that came from having these blue eyes, she wouldn't have let the words leave her mouth. "But my eyes are yellow. I don't _want _yellow eyes. _Everyone _has _yellow eyes_. But _you _have pretty _blue _eyes. Why? Aren't you Fire Nation?"

"Not exactly, but—"

"Oh my spirits! Great Agni, _Hoa _get _away from her_!"

Katara's mind reeled as a thin lady stormed over to Katara and snatched the girl's hand, a horrifying mad face screwing up her sharp features.

"Hoa! What did I tell you about _talking to strangers_! And a _Water Tribe peasant _at that! She could've killed you o-or _robbed _you!"

"But mommy, she has pretty—"

"_Nothing_ about a Water Tribe person is _pretty_!" she retorted bitterly, glaring at Katara the whole while.

Katara wanted to scream at the lady and tell her she could go _somewhere_ and _warm her feet_. She wanted to shake her and tell her that the girl wasn't doing anything wrong, and that Water Tribe people _are _beautiful, and that she wouldn't have robbed _anyone_—let alone an innocent girl _admiring_ her—because it was wrong and _Water Tribe people knew right from wrong_, but she was utterly silent. Completely and utterly silent. All words locked themselves in her throat as she turned on her heel and ran away from the square and the whispering voices and stares and the little girl and her mother.

* * *

_**K**__atara hadn't been in too swell of a mood since the commotion at the Capital's Square._ So when she walked into the tent around dusk, the last person she wanted to see was Madam Hui-Fang, who was a Mainlander herself. Even worse than seeing Hui-Fang was _hearing _Hui-Fang, and what she had to say was worst of all.

"Katara! You're almost late!" she hounded, folding thin arms over one another.

Katara turned to face Hui-Fang, her sour mood boosting her bravado.

"I'm sorry Hui-Fang, but after being harassed by a group of Mainland guards mere minutes after being screamed at by a prejudice _bitch_, my sense of time seems to loose me."

Hui-Fang was silent for a beat.

"Look—it doesn't matter now—" Katara scoffed at this. "—our _dearest _Zhang Qiang made a last minute proposition for you, and just told me a couple of minutes ago that he informed the Fire Lord that you would be performing during the circus acts."

Katara blinked.

"…_What_?!"

Hui-Fang growled, throwing her hands into the air and pacing rapidly.

"I know! He's such an idiot!" she kicked the leg of a small table. "What was he thinking?! That idiot! That stupid, inferior, noble, _idiot_!" She stopped pacing and looked at Katara, urgency written all of her black-stained face. She fisted raven hair and hollered a plethora of curses into the air. "And I can't even _tell _what your performance really is going to be! It is just a performance for the entertainment of the Fire Lord, or just evidence that I've been housing a Waterbender with me for years?! I can be executed for this!"

"Well, then how about I just don't Wa—"

"You have to. _Zhang _already told the Fire Lord all about your little Waterbending _and _Bloodbending hullabaloo!" she sighed heavily. Hui-Fang began walking over to her luggage, which was strewn all over the floor, and digging rabidly through it until she pulled something black out. She turned and faced Katara. In Hui-Fang's bony hands was a short black dress. The ends of the dress were frayed and laced, looking like mini spider webs. The back side of the dress dragged all the way down to the floor, and one's back would exposed from the cut in the fabric. Black pearls hung loosely around where the neck would be, and two black feathers was stitched onto one shoulder. It looked like something _death _would wear.

"This—" she shook the dress. "—is the dress I wore when I used to perform in the circus. I always carry it around with me for good luck. Since we don't have anything else for your solo performance tonight, you're going to wear this."

The excessive amounts of black threw Katara off. Black wasn't her color. It was the color people turned once they were burnt to a crisp by the Fire Lord for _Waterbending right in his face_.

"Madam—"

"Hurry up and get in the _damned _dress, Waterbender!"

Hui-Fang threw the dress in her direction. Katara caught the black fabric with one hand and began taking off her clothes with the other. Once she was undressed, she slipped into the dark garb. The dress was a little tight—Hui-Fang really must've been a toothpick during her glory days—but after some discreet tearing of the dress, she was able to fit her hips in. She smoothened out the wrinkles with her hands, and moments later, Hui-Fang left. She returned seconds later with black and red paints.

She patted to the seat next to her, and Katara quickly sat there. The instant her bottom touched the leather of the stool, Hui-Fang skillful, bony hands went to work. Cool black paint glided over her eyelids and then arched at the ends. She dabbed red paint over her lips before dropping the brushes on the counter. She walked behind Katara and began combing through dark brown tresses. She paused for a second, calling out the name of two girls. The hairdressers took Hui-Fang's place behind Katara, skilfully working through Katara's hair while Hui-Fang resumed making over her face.

The girls plaited her hair into one long braid before winding the hair into an elegant chignon bun. They added red, orange and yellow ornate hair combs and artificial fire lilies into the mix.

"Stand up," she commanded. Katara quickly did as she said. She watched as Hui-Fang circled her like a hawk would do its prey, admiring her work.

"You're ready for the First Act." She said, pleased with her creation. Katara looked down and waggled her toes.

"No shoes?"

"I know you've been a tightrope before, correct? You don't wear shoes on tightropes."

"I _have_ been on a tightrope before, it's just tha—wait, _what_?! A tightrope?!"

"Yes!" Hui-Fang clasped her hands together. "I can just see it now—only I envisioned _myself _in that dress—you on a tightrope, basins of water surrounding the clearing. Animals…bear lions and leopard wolves…_angry _animals, lunging at you as you descend from the rope _gracefully_. Nobody's in the spotlight…nobody on stage, just you and a bunch of angry animals. And then…Bloodbending! Just when the animals are about to claw your little Water Tribe face off, you use that witch magic—"

"Waterbending."

"—and then _push _all of the animals back at once!" Hui-Fang continued rambling on about her last minute solo, and Katara honestly couldn't care less about what she would being doing in the act. She was more concerned about the death sentence she was sure to get once the Fire Lord witnessed her Waterbending. The last Fire Lord, Fire Lord Ozai, had been certain to wipe out as many Water Tribe people possible. There were many stories about the raid he had ordered upon the Northern Water Tribe (Fire Nation Region One) that wiped out all of the people there. He was aiming at genocide to the Waterbenders and Airbenders, the Airbenders getting the lesser extent of Ozai's wrath, and nearly succeeded wiping out the Water Tribe people hadn't he fallen ill from an incurable disease and died. But now his son, Fire Lord Zuko, would carry on his father's legacy…right? He would burn her to a crisp with those white flames of his, and she'd be bee nothing but a blackened skeleton. Ashes even. Just a big pile of Waterbender scum ashes that would blow away in—

'_Focus Katara! This is not the time!' _she chided herself, feeling her stomach doing flip-flops. She'd have to find some type of escape if the Fire Lord was feeling rather murderous that day.

She got no further than _'run out the back flap' _when Madam Hui-Fang started clapping loudly in the faces of her performers, her piercing voice screaming _"Ladies, gentlemen! Act One! Act One!"_

Katara would have the last Act to perform; that much she was sure of. _Act Three _usually consisted of special performances, and was only there during special nights. Oftentimes, it was just _Act One _and _Act Two_. One could say the arrival of the Fire Lord was a special enough for an _Act Three_.

Katara absently fiddled with her fingers, watching as the performers for _Act One _bustling past her, their usually plain looks spiced up for the Fire Lord. She saw Ty Lee amongst the group, and the Waterbender threw her a quick apologetic look for storming off earlier. Whether Ty Lee saw it or not, she didn't acknowledge it as she disappeared behind the flap. The crowd exploded in a cheer, their hoots and hollers loud enough to make the floor beneath her reverberate.

Time ticked by too fast for Katara. She paced around several times, nearly stepping on the dragging part of the dress with each step, contemplating her genius escape plan. But no matter which way she designed her plan, it always ended with the Fire Lord ordering his guards to capture her, and like each ending, he always succeeded. It was sick loop that went on in her head. She'd think she'd found the perfect escape, play it over and over again in her head until she realized her flaw, scrapped the idea and started the process all over. It was maddening.

She glanced at the exit hundreds of times within the two hours that quickly passed. If she just ran away…but she knew she couldn't. The Fire Lord could easily catch her, and she wouldn't allow anyone at the circus to be hurt because of it. Especially Ty Lee and even Hui-Fang (she was a bitter, prejudice, old hag, but she still took her in during her time of need).

So Katara decided to suck it up, once and for all. She would go out there and Waterbender or Bloodbend or whatever, because she wasn't going to run away from this as she did at the Square. She heard the drums sound for the end of _Act Two_, and the crowd cheer loudly, half of them laughing themselves unconscious from the exceptionally humorous skits performed. She took in a deep breath, bending away the sweat forming at her eyebrows so she wouldn't smudge her makeup by wiping it off.

"_Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the wonderful, exceptional Act Three! Our performance today is starring the wonderful, magnificent, Katara of Province One!"_

* * *

_**K**__atara stepped out into the cleared area, trying to ignore the shockingly silenced crowd._ They had all been clapping mere seconds ago until she had stepped out into the spotlight, tanned-skin glory clad in black.

'_Ignore them, ignore them, ignore them…'_

She sucked in a small amount of air, forcing herself to breath. It was almost as if she could feel the hundreds of amber eyes staring down at her. Almost as if she could hear their thoughts saying _"Why? Why did they bring out this _scum_ before the eyes of the Fire Lord?" _She asked that question herself.

She took careful, graceful steps, climbing up on the latter that was connected to the tightrope swiftly. Nimble brown hands lifted herself onto the thin but hard rope, lifting her body weight onto it. Agni, it's been such a long time since she's been on a tightrope. Hui-Fang was crazy for insisting it.

She carefully stuck her hands out to each side of her, calling water from basins below to swirl around her body. The crowd nearly screamed in astonishment and wonderment. Katara was just surprised she hadn't been shot down yet.

Graceful step after graceful step, she moved across the rope. After being on the rope a couple of minutes, she became comfortable with the risk of falling over and snapping her neck. She'd rather that than being burnt to death. She span around, flipping and using the daring acrobatic skills Ty Lee taught her during their free time. The water was a nice touch, it moved around her like a comforting water snake. It was also a nice distraction from the Fire Lord's piercing golden eyes.

She decided to step out of her comfort zone and began going _Act One _on the crowd. She cartwheeled on the thin rope, ending in a split before balancing her body in the air with her arms. She span around in restrained circles, using poise and flexibility that would make Ty Lee jump in joy

The audience, despite their prejudice, bigoted ways, gasped in fear and suspense. Was the Waterbender girl going to fall over? Was she going to tumble down onto the floor and be devoured by the leopard wolves and bear lions? They watched her performance with open mouths and wide eyes, resembling to the dead fish she bought in the markets.

Somewhere along the way, Hui-Fang must've gotten particularly pissed—or bored—for some reason. In the corner of her eye, in the shadows not touched by the spotlight, she saw the faintest hints of the stable boy she's seen earlier in Province One. He mouthed what she assumed was _"sorry" _before he pulled out a long scissor. Her eyes flew open.

'_Oh no, oh no, oh Agni pl—"_

She plummeted to ground like heavy sack of rocks. If it wasn't from her quick reflexes, she would've died mere seconds after the rope was cut. She formed a long ice slide from the water provided and slid down its length, landing shakily onto the ground. The crowd clapped and applauded madly before quieting down the instant the deadly growls of the bear lions and leopard wolves sounded.

'_HUI-FANG!' _she cursed that woman's name, watching as the large, lithe and dangerous creatures stalked from the shadows, their tails raised and ears flattened. She knew quite a lot about animals, and these ones weren't asking for a belly rub or a pat on the head.

She collected her mind, trying to follow Hui-Fang's senseless ramblings from earlier. Katara needed to be more than careful about her timing. If she Bloodbended too early, they'd be able to take their bodies back under their control and tear her to shreds. A moment too late, and…well. That'd be the end of Katara-the-human and the beginning of Katara-the-brand-of-jerky-strips.

She glanced at her surroundings. They encircled her, calculatingly moving forward. She imitated a sloppy excuse for a battle stance. The first one moved forward, and then they all leaped. Katara counted how many steps it would take for them to reach her. Three. Three _freaking_ steps.

They were there in an instant, and Katara's heart thumped madly. They closed in the light from the spotlight, plunging her into darkness. Reacting on instinct, she moved her hands in quick spidery motions, holding the creatures back. They were far enough so that their claws couldn't harm her, but close enough so that the crowd couldn't see her body. There were screams and shouts of outrage and horror, the people going mad with witnessing the Waterbender fall to her "death" and being eaten alive. She waited ten seconds before spreading her arms out, lifting the animals into the air and pushing them back into the shadows.

The audience gasped, but other than that, it was utterly silent. The Waterbender moved her fingers, making the bear lions step from the shadows where they'd been cast and bow down before her, their right paw out and heads dipped. With her other hand, she made the leopard wolves pad out next, and next to the bear lions, they bowed just the same. Using the last of her adrenaline, she bowed down herself, and the lights went out. In the blackness, the crowd cheered and roared loudly, impossibly pleased at the Waterbender's performance.

She used to the darkness to run back to the flap she came from.

* * *

"_**H**__ui-Fang! HUI-FANG!"_

Katara was _pissed_. No, pissed was an understatement. She was infuriated, traumatized, mortified and enraged. Her fists balled at her sides and tears threatened to leak out of the corners of her eyes. Her nose and cheeks were red from anger.

How…how could Hui-Fang _do _that to her? Making that poor boy cut the rope, sending her to her death? What if her reflexes was a bit too slow? What if she panicked and just let gravity take place? What if she hadn't Bloodbended that animals back? What if one of the bear lions escaped her Bloodbending and was loose while she was distracted?

_She'd be dead_. _She'd be dead, she'd be dead, she'd be dead_. That was the answer to all of her questions, and Katara knew that. _Hui-Fang _knew that when she ordered that boy to cut the rope.

"HUI-FANG!" she screamed, her voice ripping the soft tissue in her throat. She called Hui-Fang's name again, and her voice cracked. She bit her lips, forcing back angry tears as she whipped the flap aside.

"_HUI-FA_—oh my spirits!"

There, in front of her, was Hui-Fang pinned to the floor, her hands tied around her back with two people restraining her. One of their cold, yellow eyes bored into her shocked blue ones.

"Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, you are sentenced for execution under the word of the Fire Lord."

* * *

_A good fortune may forbade bad luck, which may in turn disguise a good fortune._

* * *

**A/N: Bwahaha. I know. I'm the worst. **

**CHAPTER ONE….ends in a cliffhanger. So how do you feel about it so far? Please do give me your honest opinion, it really helps out.**

**Kthnxbai.**

**-Luna**


	2. Act One: II

**A/N: ;U; I was pretty sure this story wasn't going to get any reviews but then—BAM! I got **_**four**_** WONDERFUL reviews, three favorites and **_**six**_** alerts on the first chapter! Beyond my expectations! Far beyond! And I can't express my happiness. 14 year olds should not express this much happiness over writing. It's just not healthy. Ilurvuguyz. ;W;**

**Usually I don't do responses, but since this story is my main project, I don't mind answering questions and so on and so forth. Go to bottom of the chapter if you wanna' see'em.**

**And watch out, Zuko finally appears in this chapter and I'm scared I made him very OOC. Please tell me if I did or didn't. Q_Q I didn't proofread, so yeah. There **_**will **_**be mistakes.**

**ONWARD.**

**Signed,**

**-Oten**

***Edit 6/24/13: Fixed the unbearable grammar mistakes**

**Warning:***_**OOC**_**, OCs, AU, violence, gore, swearing, sexual **_**implications**_

_*Because, damn it, it _has_ been a while since I've last watched ATLA. Please, feel free to correct me when things get OOC to a point it's unbearable. I will try to keep them as in character as I can muster._

_**Disclaimer: **__If I owned Avatar, don't ya' think there would've been a Fire Lady Katara?_

* * *

_**Tightrope**_

_**Act One: II**_

_The Second Act_

* * *

_During times of war, hatred becomes quite respectable, even though it has to masquerade often under the guise of patriotism._

* * *

"_**K**__atara of the Southern Water Tribe, you are sentenced for execution under the word of the Fire Lord."_

_Execution._

_**Execution.**_

_**EXECUTION.**_

Katara's mind swirled, the words burning themselves into her soul, into her mind, into the very fibers of her being. She was going to be executed. The fiery anger she felt mere moments was knocked out of her body, dread taking over all of her nerves, disallowing her mind to process anything other than the fact that she was going to be burned to a crisp.

Her knees felt so incredibly weak beneath her, her heart thumping hard enough; she swore they could hear it. Damn it, why _her_? Why was it _her _soul that was unfortunate enough to be born inside of a Water Tribe body? Why was it _her _that had to be a war orphan, and live inside of such a prejudice world where they killed people for being born?

Why?

She couldn't answers these questions. Nobody could.

"Katara! You stupid Waterbending, filthy _bitch_! Look at what you have done! You senseless Water Tribe whore!" Hui-fang struggled against the guard's hold, kicking furiously from the floor. But Katara couldn't care less about Hui-Fang's feelings or position. She was going to be _killed _for Agni's sake!

The guard on the right side of Hui-Fang looked perplexed, light brown eyebrows turning downwards in confusion. His lips pulled back.

"Huang, you seem to have gotten the Fire Lord's request _wrong_, once again." The gray-eyed man—probably had Air Nomad blood in him—said calmly, his voice even despite the old woman trying to bite off his fingers. The other guard, who she assumed was Huang, glared up at him, yellow eyes sharp with irritation.

"Nah', I'm _pretty damn sure _the Fire Lord said _execution_."

The other guard moved out of Hui-Fang's reach as one of her hands freed. She tried to claw at his face, screaming at him to let her go, but to no avail. He brushed off his armor casually before turning to her. He cleared his throat and did a slight bow to her.

"I apologize Lady Katara of Fire Nation Region Two, for the trouble my friend has caused you," the other male growled in defense. "His hearing probably isn't as sharp as it needs to be anymore, and I can assure you the Fire Lord has ordered no such 'execution'. His Majesty has requested an interrogation, a questioning or an interview dare you call it."

All in one moment, it felt as if the world has been lifted off of Katara's shoulders. Like a great curse that was so quickly casted upon her had been washed away by the wind. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding as her nerves buzzed from the influx of emotions. Relief, liberation, glee, and then gradually fear.

Fear, the beast that slowly creeps its way up one's spine through a cold chill and into their mind like a bug.

What did the Fire Lord want with her if he wasn't planning on killing her? Or was this meeting just a cover up so he _could _kill her, just in private? She doubted the latter—Mainlanders were bat-shit crazy with their honor, and when one was killing a Water Tribe person—a rare Waterbender at that—they loved to make things public. She remembered once watching a pregnant Water Tribe woman being fire-whipped to death when she was younger. The woman's pleas and cries and screams forever embedded itself into her memory.

She opened her mouth a couple of times, trying to find her voice.

"…What—" her voice cracked. She coughed a bit and started again. "What does the Fire Lord want with me?"

The Air Nomad's mildly wrinkled face held a slight frown. "That, Lady Katara, I cannot be sure of. I and my partner were only informed to deliver this message to you. Nothing more, nothing less."

She was still a bit confused as to why the Air Nomad treated her with respect, but she was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. The Waterbender nodded slowly, letting her mind slowly piece together when she noticed she was lacking one vital piece of information.

"Wait, um…" she had no idea what to call the kind, aging man. He gave a light smile.

"Chou, my name is Chou."

"Uh, yes, Chou. Where will this interrogation be held?" She had a feeling she knew the answer, but she wanted to hear it from him.

"The Royal Palace, of course. There will be guards surrounding the Palace, but all you need to tell them is that the Fire Lord wishes to speak to you. They should alert his Majesty, and the guards will escort you to the Palace." He snapped his finger in remembrance. "Ah, I almost forgot to tell you. Try to arrive at the break of dawn, his Majesty can be quite…impatient."

The Fire Nation Palace. The palace where the world's tyrant lives and dictates. She, Katara the mere Water Tribe war orphan, was going to see the Fire Lord for a reason unknown to both her and his messengers. Her stomach knotted up, a wave of sickness making her want to inwardly blanch. She was sure the Fire Lord was breaking an ancient rule, allowing a Water Tribe person to enter the Royal Palace—Mainlanders were very strict and upholding of their crazy, dumb rules—so whatever it was, it must be important.

But why the _hell _would he want to speak to a Water Tribe circus folk about something important?

Chou snapped to his friend, who hastily let go of a begrudged Hui-Fang. Her short black hair was a wild mess, the black make up around her eyes smudged, making her look more ghoulish than usual. She bared her teeth, fury filling amber eyes swiftly. She looked like a wild animal just being let out of captivity, ready to strike at each and every person in the small tent.

The Air Nomad walked briskly out of the tent, bidding a quiet adieu, while Huang stormed out, throwing Katara a particularly hateful look. She didn't have to look at his black hair, pale skin and yellow eyes to know he was a Mainlander. Another bigoted, racist Mainlander to add to the list of people who hated her.

Her list has been getting awfully long lately.

_Clang!_

Speaking of people who hated her.

The loud bang and crack of a small mirror hitting the wall beside her jolted Katara out of her stupor. She ducked and hit the floor, glaring with wide eyes at Hui-Fang's panting figure. She pointed a bony finger in Katara's direction.

"You bitch! You atrocious, ugly Water Tribe _bitch_! I could've _DIED_!" She threw anything within reach at the Waterbender. Glasses, paints, mirrors, brushes, sandals—anything.

"What the _hell_, Hui-Fang?!" she hissed, bringing up a small trail of water from a bottle, whipping it out to deflect a stone Hui-Fang picked up from the ground. She let the water splash to the ground, anger disturbing her bending. She bristled, her nose flared and hands balled into fists, all of her contained wrath letting loose. "You could've died? _You _could've died? Were you the one _risking your life_ out there, Waterbending in front of the Fire Lord, knowing he could shoot you down any moment he felt it? Were _you _the one who was plummeting to the ground because _someone _ordered a little boy to _cut the damn tightrope_? Were _you _the one that had to fend off against dozens of tormented animals by yourself while thousands of people watched and enjoyed your horror?!"

With every sentence, she took an intimidating step forward, her voice rising as her emotions flared. The water that fell to the ground turned into slick ice, ice in which Hui-Fang slipped on backing away from the venomous Waterbender. The air, once cool and humid, became dry and cold, every single liquid in the tent freezing instantly. But Katara wasn't done yet. She wasn't done telling that ungrateful old hag how the world was through her eyes, knowing that anybody and everybody was willing to kill her for being who and what she was. Katara wasn't done telling the ignorant old woman how she has been through _nothing _compared what she has.

"You, Hui-Fang, are the most _ungrateful_, _selfish _bastard I have ever met! And I hope you, one day, can see how—"

"_Leave_!" Hui-Fang's voice cut through the air like a whip. Katara was silenced immediately. "_Leave_! Stay out of my circus and never fucking come back! I should've listened to all of those people long ago; Water Tribe scums are _always_ trouble!" her body shook with rage, her deathly pale face red with malice.

Katara stared at Hui-Fang, forcing blue eyes to hide all of her emotions at once. She honestly knew Hui-Fang was going to kick her out of the circus _one _day, but she never knew when. But out of all the places she was to be kicked out of, it just _had _to be in the Mainland, didn't it? The place where senseless war-induced superstitions turned into full-blown discrimination against Water Tribe people.

'_Great, just freaking great.' _She thought, tearing the spidery black dress off of her body and onto the floor. She quickly threw on her green tunic and skirt and gathered her personal items, scribbling down a sloppy "goodbye" note to Ty Lee. By the time Katara was finished, the crescent moon was high in the sky and the Fire Nation air was cold, despite the hot, midsummer temperatures it held during daytime. She resisted a shiver, using her hands to warm her shoulders, which was riddled with goose bumps. Her green tunic was thin and loose, only meant to be worn during the day, and every single _Agni be damned _breeze—which ironically, there seemed to be quite a lot of that night—made her feel like she was being burrowed in ice.

Funny how a Water Tribe person was spiteful of the cold.

How ironic.

The streets were oddly empty, despite the Capital being a very populated city. It made her feel as if everyone just decided to pack up and leave because a Waterbender was in town. She wouldn't be surprised if they did such a thing.

She trudged along the cobblestone sidewalks, trying to find a lodging somewhere. After walking around—sometimes in large circles because she _really _needed a map—a couple of times, she found a small inn at the outskirts of the Capital. Thanking the spirits above, she all but ran into the inn's door, her goose bumps easing once the warm air enveloped her body in a blanket of heat.

'_Oh Agni, yes!'_ she thought blissfully, completely unaware of the glare the owner was giving her on the other side of the checkout counter. He slammed his fists down, a frown screwing up his elderly features.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he spat, snapping her out of her trance. She glanced at him, fixing the bag on her shoulders.

"I was wondering if I could get a room here, just for one night—"

"No."

She looked at him through irritated blue eyes. From the dim lights around them, she could make out short black hair, pale skin and glaring amber eyes. Just her luck.

"And why not?" she knew the answer. It was because she was Water Tribe, as the answer always was.

"Because the rooms are filled from the freak show in the middle of the Capital,"

Well that was…different.

"And because you're obviously Water Tribe scum."

…Never mind.

In no mood to argue, she spun around and left the warm sanctuary, letting the door slam behind her.

'_Stupid, racist, narrow-minded, bigoted bastard!' _she thought venomously, stomping to match each syllable. Great spirits above, why did she have to be stuck in the Mainland of all places?!

Katara made it no further than down the curb of the sidewalk when a parade of tiny footsteps, loud panting and a not-so-quiet "Wait!" stopped her in her tracks. She turned around, glancing at the source of the noise.

It was a small, pregnant woman (about 3 months), probably a year or so older than Katara, wobbling towards her, a pale hand up in the air.

"W-wait!" she panted out again, despite Katara already stilled and waiting. She stopped running and tiredly trudged the rest of the short distance to the Waterbender. Katara eyes her up and down. From the look of her, she was more than likely born in the Mainland (the red silk was a dead giveaway), but from tannish skin, Katara could assume there was Province One added in her bloodline somewhere. Even so, she looked a little pale.

The Waterbender's dark eyebrows knitted together in the center of her face, a frown—resembling much to a mother scolding her child for falling into the pond and tracking water—tugging at her lips.

"You shouldn't be running when you're pregnant, you know." She said a bit softly, but warning was still detected in her voice. She half expected a scoff and a retort of "Who do you think you are, telling me what to do, Water Tribe scum?" but was only mildly surprised when she let out a weak smile.

"I know," she said regaining her breath. "But I have to apologize for my father's behavior. He isn't too fond of…others outside of the Mainland. Do except my dearest apologies in the form of residence at the inn."

"I'm not allowed."

"I can sneak you in."

"Won't you get in trouble?"

"He won't know. He doesn't know a lot of things."

And with that, the woman turned on her swollen heels and led the way back to the inn. It was an easy access into the back door, up the three flights of stairs (Katara knew it wasn't too good for her to be doing that, but she had stubbornly insisted) and into the room.

The room was plain, only having the necessary bed, dresser, mirror and bathroom. There was a lantern, of course, and a small window next to the bed. To any Mainlander, this would probably be garbage. To a girl who hasn't slept in a real bed for a couple of years, this was heaven.

Katara had dove into the bed's red sheets, pushing the cottony material against her face. _Oh Agni_! The bed was so soft and firm, and it didn't creak and _ooh _it smelled clean, like fresh linen, and she didn't know what her life was before this bed and—

"_Ahem_."

She froze up, feeling unbelievably silly for reacting so stupidly upon seeing a _bed_. A _bed_, for Agni's sake! She hung her head just the slightest, red rising to her warming cheeks.

'_Keep it together, Katara!'_

The pregnant woman held a folded, red robe in her arms—_when did she leave?_—and a pair of black boots. She raised a single black eyebrow.

"Enjoying your stay?"

"Yes, very much so."

A light smile graced her lips and she stretched out her hands, offering the clothes. Just looking at them, Katara could tell it wasn't something she could pay for with the little money she made at the circus. Katara shook her head.

"I'm sorry, I can't just take your—"

"It's fine, really. And this is far too small for me now—" she gestured towards her rounded belly. "—it'll be useless clutter for the next couple of months."

She placed the robes on Katara's bed and briskly left the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

The irrational part of her mind told her to go back to the bed and roll in its glory once more, but logical side said otherwise. Instead she slipped the clothes into one of the drawers and took off of her own clothes, readying herself for a bath.

She would think best in her element.

After filling the tub halfway with water, she lowered herself into its inviting warmth. Almost instantly, Katara's mind whirled with the sudden turn of events: nearly dying _twice _in the span of an hour, the odd interrogation with the Fire Lord, being kicked out of the circus and becoming homeless again. The only difference between her lack of home then and now being the people who surrounded her with hateful glares and cutting words.

She buried herself deeper into the water.

She still couldn't think of a reason for the Fire Lord wanting to see her.

It was an interrogation, so he was going to be asking her questions. Questions about _what_? Hui-Fang? The whereabouts of noblewoman Ty Lee (although he, and nearly the entirety of the Mainland Capital _did _see her perform)? A finger couldn't be placed on what the Fire Lord's intentions were.

But even worse than that, Katara worried about the isolation and rejection she'd get from the Mainlanders once Madam Hui-Fang's Traveling Circus left the harbor, leaving her stranded in this place she most definitely belong. No home, no money, no job, no friends, no family—just Katara by herself, once again.

She lifted her arms and tried to Waterbend, but she found her emotions getting in the way of her chi once again. She let her arms splash back down, the feeling of hopelessness dawning on her.

Tiredly glancing at her wrinkled fingers, she quickly soaped herself, rinsed through her hair (she was too tired to shampoo it) and washed that Agni be damned black makeup off her face (she wondered how the innkeeper's daughter felt when she saw that mess on her face).

The young Waterbender flopped in the bed, this time too drained to relish its red glory, and fell into a disturbed, light slumber the moment her head touched the pillow.

* * *

'_**I**__swear to Agni, if this light does not get out of my face…' Katara thought subconsciously, blindly waving her arms around, looking for the curtain to block out the obnoxious sunlight_. She, unlike those absurd Firebenders, could not rise with the sun as they did every morning. She liked to take her time getting awake because she always had a long day ahead of her when she was in the circus. Suddenly, something in the back of her mind clicked.

Firebender.

Fire Lord.

Morning.

Dawn.

Late.

_**Late**_.

"Agni damn it to hell!" she swore, throwing the sheets aside and scrambling out of the bed. She threw the curtains to either side of her, peering out of the window with wide eyes, suddenly awake.

The sun was high in the sky, its rays adorning every crevice and crack in the Mainland streets.

"_Ah, I almost forgot to tell you. Try to arrive at the break of dawn, his Majesty can be quite…impatient."_

"Oh, Agni," she wailed into her palm, sprinting into the bathroom. "Why _me_?!"

She scrubbed and soaped herself so quickly and roughly in the shower, she was sure she probably bruised. But she didn't have time to worry about that! She was late to meeting the Fire Lord! Bending the water out of her hair and off of her body, she threw the long robes on and shoved her feet into the black boots.

On her way down the stairs, she hurriedly attached the bracelet Ty Lee had given to her the day before (which was probably the last of Ty Lee she'd ever be seeing considering how late she was) and burst through the back door, surprising the pedestrians.

She broke out into a sprint. Lucky for her, to Fire Nation Palace wasn't too far away from where she stayed the night before, but it did take her some to get there on foot. By the time she was able to reach the Palace's surrounding gates, she felt the sun's fury at full force. What she would do for some water right then…

When she approached the gate, the guards visibly stiffened. The young Waterbender could practically _feel_ the hostility coming off of them in waves. The tallest guard stepped forward, his movements rigid and screaming authority. Katara swallowed, he stood no more than an arm's length away from her. He towered over her, casting a shadow over her small frame.

"State your name, territory and business, _scum_." Amber eyes peered through the mask and glared down at hers. She met his with her own, challenge easily detected in the rebellious blue pools.

"Katara of Province One, and I am here to meet the Fire Lord under his majesty's request, _Mainlander_."

She barely resisted smirking at his wide eyes, but the grin tugging at her lips fell flat as he clutched his side and let out a roaring laugh.

"What's so funny?" she hissed, her hands flying to her hips. He ignored her, turning over to the other guards, shouting to gain their attention.

"_Guys_!" he wheezed, lifting his mask to flick a tear away. "The _dirty peasant _says—_ha haha_, I can't even, _oh Agni! _The dirty peasant s-says she came here under the _Fire Lord's request_!"

There was a small pause, and then a chorus of laughter filled the air. She bit her lip, trying her best to restrain from making a spiteful comment that would get her thrown in prison. For the love of all that is good, why couldn't they just send for the Fire Lord so she could be on her way?

"Hey!" she shouted, waving her hand in his face, but he didn't even acknowledge it. She growled low in her throat. "Don't ignore me, damn it!"

Peeved, he spun around so quickly she didn't even see him move. Snatching the hand that was once in his face, he grabbed it and raised it far above his head, lifting Katara up from the ground. She kicked furiously, trying to aim for certain places that would make him drop her that instant.

"Let go of me and just let me see the Fire Lord, for spirits sake!"

He snorted.

"You stupid, inferior peasant! You won't be seeing the Fire Lord anytime soon. Be lucky we haven't killed y—"

"Master Ling, I'd much appreciate it if you'd let go of Lady Katara's arm."

As if the heavens answered her prayers, she felt the ground underneath her feet once more. Ling turned and bowed deeply, although she could still see irritation written all over his face. The group of guard's that had once been laughing hysterically was now deadly quiet. So quiet, Katara could hear each soft step and rustle of clothes.

She turned her head to her savior. There, clad in a dragon-styled armor, was Chou. The aging male didn't hold the slightest negative expression towards her or any of the foolish guards as he folded his wrinkled hands over one another. He cleared his throat and glanced down at Ling once he was in speaking range.

"Now, Master Ling, I have a question for you. Excuse me if my hearing has gone bad, but I am pretty sure I heard Lady Katara ask you to send for the Fire Lord. She did, didn't she?" he said evenly. Ling nodded his head slightly.

"She did," was his short reply. Chou nodded his head slowly.

"Good, then my hearing is fine. So do answer my question honestly. Why is it that you chose to ignore Lady Katara and did not do as she pleased?"

"But—"

"And in turn, chose to laugh in her face, despite her efforts to gain your attention?" the Air Nomad interrupted. Ling was silent for a beat.

"That's because she's _obviously _a filthy, foreign peasant!" he shouted, throwing his arms out into the air as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Katara let a growl rumble in her throat.

But Chou was unfazed, he held up a hand. "And I am Province Two and Liang Liao is Province One. Both of us were not born in the Mainland, and I came from a rather humble beginning myself. Do you think of us as filthy, foreign peasants?"

"No…"

"Then I'd appreciate if you'd keep your comments to yourself. Be lucky I'm in a pleasant mood today, or else I would've reported you for insubordination. Good day." Chou glanced at Katara. "And would you kindly follow me?"

"Sure—I mean—of course."

As the Palace's golden gates opened for them, Katara couldn't help but feel a little giddy. That bastard _Ling_—she would have to add to him to the mental list of people who hated her—had been put in his place. Although she would've preferred to kick him in the place in hurt most, she decided that this alternative would probably have a better outcome than the other.

But that giddiness she had once felt was washed away the moment she glanced at the Royal Palace. Her heart beat uncontrollably in her chest, and her hands began to sweat. Chou, walking ahead of her, couldn't see her being a nervous-wreck, and she was grateful he had given her space instead of shadowing her like some type of watchdog. She blindly followed the older man into the extravagant palace, the royal reds and deep browns and blacks being the main color scheme aside from the gold linings. Countless paintings of the royal family members hung on nearly every wall, their still, pale faces and amber eyes seemingly boring into her very soul.

A chill, despite the ludicrously hot temperatures, slid up her spine, causing her to shudder head to toe.

'_What am I doing here?' _she thought, looking at the portrait of the last Fire Lord, which had been Ozai. His picture alone made her want to just turn around and leave as quickly as possible. But she toughened up, repeatedly telling herself that she was being paranoid and that she would face this problem _head on _despite the fact she could very well have her head cut off if the Fire Lord pleased.

Okay, that wasn't very helpful.

But she didn't have much to time reprimand herself for that, for the two large doors to the Throne Room were right in front of her. Chou knocked on the door once, and the guards inside of the room slid both of them aside in unison, the grand doors opening _ever so slowly _due to the excessive amounts of gold.

'_Pillars, pillars everywhere.'_

That was the first thing she noticed.

She didn't know what was up with the Royal Family and their excessive amounts of pillars in a single Throne Room, but she chose—wisely—not to comment on it. Especially not with the Fire Lord grand yards away from her.

Fire spewed from the ground up, obscuring his majesty completely. Katara felt hot and cold and tingly and just flat out _confused_. The questions she tried to keep from her conscious thoughts whirled back into her mind like a wild tornado.

_Why am I here?_

_What does he want with me?_

_What is he going to do?_

_Where do I escape?_

Using all of her will, she quieted them down to little murmurs that would (treacherously) linger in the back of her head.

Chou kneeled down, and Katara was just a head-to-floor contact away from groveling. Really, she felt pathetic, bowing on her knees to the man obscured behind a wall of fire (the son of the man who has nearly put her people to extinction), but that was all she could do to get on his good side—if he had one—and try not to die.

"Your Majesty," Chou said loudly. "I present to you Lady Katara of Fire Nation Region Two."

The fire dropped, its licking, hungry flames quelled in seconds. There, in all of his regal glory, was the Fire Lord.

Katara quickly averted her eyes back to ground, suddenly wishing she could turn into one of those many pillars that stood around. Or a rock underneath the foundations of the palace.

Hell, what she would do to be a speck of dust in a forest faraway.

Footsteps sounded, and Katara's throat felt dry. The Fire Lord was walking towards her.

"You may stand." He said. And she did. Shaky it was, but she managed not to stumble or fall back to her knees. She even surprised herself at standing—she was sure her legs had turned to jelly long ago.

The young Waterbender made sure not to look him in the eyes. It was considered disrespectful. They said that the eyes was the passage way into the soul and mind, and honestly—despite the growing fear she had for him (he was a very daunting man, she learned quickly)—she wanted to read its depths. _What was the story behind the man on the throne? _But curiosity had no clout upon her, and the thought was exiled to the furthest, darkest fraction of her brain. She convinced herself that she didn't want to know the man who ordered thousands of children and innocent people to death.

He was close to her. Not nearly as close as Master Ling had been, but a respectable distance away from her.

"You're a Waterbender."

He was very straightforward. No beating-around-the-bush, just out with it. And Katara appreciated that; she didn't want to be here longer than necessary. She nodded slowly. He took this as a sign to continue and did.

"And from your performance last night, I can assume you are a rather particular Waterbender."

This surprised her greatly. She shook her head, almost in denial. She was sure there was nothing spectacular about her—let alone anything about her that would come off as "particular" to the Fire Lord.

"Your Majesty, if I may ask," He gave a curt nod, allowing her to continue. "What do you find so 'particular' about me? I'm just a lowly commoner."

'_Yay for self-degrading comments.' _Katara thought bitterly at her attempt to seem humble.

"You Bloodbend. I have not seen many Waterbenders in my life, but even I know that this is a rare quality,"

She suddenly wished that she wasn't a Waterbender.

"And I have a proposition for you because of this talent."

She couldn't help but inwardly groan at "proposition". The last proposition she had got her here, and only Agni knows where _his _proposition would bring her.

The Fire Lord pulled out something from his silken robes. It was a shiny, bright, golden dragon with rubies for eyes and yellow and orange diamonds for scales and claws. Just _looking _at it made Katara feel as if she was the luckiest human being in the world, as if her life of labor and poverty was replaced with riches and lavishing items she couldn't even dream of.

"This is the emblem of the Hóng Yǒngshì, translated to Red Warriors in the common tongue."

She snapped out of her stupor.

"Red Warriors?" she repeated dumbly. He gave a small nod.

"Yes, a group of five people that formed together hundreds of years ago with the sole purpose of protecting the Fire Lord." He paused, letting her sink the words in. "These five people are supposed to have rather particular abilities that are rare and lethal."

Things clicked together in the same manner as it did that very morning. All of his cryptic nonsense finally clumped together.

'_He wants me to be a Red Warrior.'_

Katara nearly jerked back in shock. It felt as if she had been slapped with an iron-gloved hand named Reality. From the sound of it, this group was not just any group of guards thrown together to follow the Fire Lord on risky missions, it sounded much more important than to have formed hundreds of years ago and still be kept. Not only that, but this organization…group…_whatever _had no racial boundaries (or else she would most definitely not be here) because the Fire Lord was asking a _Water Tribe circus folk _to join.

Her throat suddenly felt dry. This was a group _dedicated _to protecting the Fire Lord. A group _dedicated _to protecting the man who has helped wipe out her people and innocent children and just—_no_! She'd be sick and twisted to join this _bullshit of an organization_!

She took an uneven step back, her legs more unbalanced than before.

"Y-Your Majesty, I…I can't—I don't want to—"

"You don't have a choice."

'_What? What the hell do you mean by I don't a have a choice?!' _she yearned to say, the words forming at the tip of her tongue. It took all of her will power to not say these words, but her body language spoke in turn for her mouth. Clenched fists, narrowed eyes, lips pulled back in the beginning of a snarl…She forced herself to be civilized, trying to remind herself that she was still before the man who could very well burn her to a crisp with white flames if he pleased.

"Your Majesty," she tried to sound impassive, but her voice came out rougher than anticipated. The displeased expression on his face and an indignant grunt made her correct herself in a lighter tone. "Your Majesty, why am I _not _able to turn down your offer?"

His face was expressionless, his authoritative golden eyes making her want to eat her words and his jaw set in a manner that probably meant he was irritated.

'_Good freaking job, Katara. Amazing, you've successfully managed to piss the Fire Lord off in record time.'_

"One does not simply 'reject' the command to be a Red Warrior. Becoming a Red Warrior is not a _choice _or an _offer_, as you sorely put it." She grated her teeth and slowly counted to ten. "It is something you should be honored to have the privilege to join."

'_I would feel more honored if you weren't being such an ass.'_

Dropping all of her humble act, Katara jutted out a hip and rested her hand on it, challenge clear in her eyes. Fire Lord Zuko met her glower with a steely one of his own, more than obviously upset that she was so keen on defying his orders.

"And what if I _don't _join?"

"Then you die."

Her stunned, rigid figure earned her a ghost of a smirk from the Fire Lord. She would've scowled, but she was too floored to even move. _Join or die, join or die. _What the hell type of options were those? Where was the '_or you can just exit through the door and continue your merry life' _option? Why did it not exist?! It was either join the Hóng Yǒngshì and protect the Fire Lord—still, the _same guy _who nearly wiped out all of the people from the Water Tribes!—with her life, or freaking _die_. Just there, at this very moment, open up his palm and form white fire and then blast it at her. She'd be a crisped, burnt skeleton. Maybe not even that? Ashes? Embers? Or was this white fire just strong enough to not even leave a trace of her left on the earth—

'_Not now, damn it!'_

"I'm going to take your silence as an agreement." The Fire Lord said. She cast her eyes downward, feeling as if she were betraying herself and all of her morals she had set up since she was young about aiding _anyone _who hurt innocent people. She wrapped her arms around herself, feeling cold once again in one of the hottest places to be. Chou—she had forgotten all about him—rested a large hand on her shoulder.

"It's not as bad as it sounds." He murmured lowly, low enough for only her to hear.

"Yes it is." she all but spat back, brushing his hand off of her shoulder.

"You did give me a demonstration of your abilities in both Bloodbending and Waterbending last night, but I need to be able to assess your fighting abilities." He lifted his chin. "Follow me."

Without waiting for her answer, he paced ahead of her in large, confident strides. Chou followed a couple of steps behind him, and Katara was at the very end. She wanted to distance herself from that man…she might try to choke him or do something stupid and get herself killed.

_Killed. _She's notice she's been faced with death more times here than she had in the whole pitiful expanse that was her lifetime. This only showed that the Mainland was no place for her.

She moved robotically, not letting out as much as a peep since she left the Throne Room. She wanted to go home, back to Province One, back to the circus, back with Ty Lee…but she knew she couldn't. Her pride wouldn't let her beg for her job back—not that Hui-fang would take her back anyways—and now that she was in the process of becoming a _Red Warrior_, she doubt she'd be allowed to do so anyways.

All her life, she's never wanted _anything _to do with the Fire Lord. To her, the Fire Lord was just some distant man with a lot of power. He didn't know her, he had no personal grudge against her, and he's never seen her. The thought of _Katara the Waterbender _never once crossed his mind, and Katara had been glad back then that this was so. But not anymore. He had taken _interest _in her and completely tore down her life in one foul swoop!

She didn't even have enough time to recognize all of the faults Fire Lord Zuko had done before they were at what she assumed was a training ground. It looked more like an arena.

Fire Lord Zuko turned to her, his dark brown hair swaying as he did so.

"You will be showing your battle skills here." He spread out his arm. "You will be fighting against the other four Red Warriors. Your goal is to try to stay in battle for as long as possible."

Katara was silent. But then it hit her.

"_Wait_, did you just say I will be fighting against the rest of _them_? By _myself_?!"

"You heard me, didn't you?"

"I can't—"

"You _will_." And like that, he shoved her forward, nearly making her tumble down steps to get into the base of the training grounds.

'_I really, really don't like you.' _she thought, throwing a rather nasty glare over her shoulder.

Luckily for Katara, there was a small fountain at the nearest corner of the arena like training ground. She had a water source, great. But she looked down at her clothes. She was wearing long red robes and boots that were too big for her. Those would have to come off. She kicked off her black boots and shed the outer layer of the robes, haphazardly throwing it on top of the boots. Her arms were bare, along with the skin below her knees. The fabric was thin and loose, easy to move in.

A couple of moments later, the rest of the Hóng Yǒngshì arrived. To no surprise, the rest of the Red Warriors were males. As they confidently strode into the arena, one particular face stood out to her, making her want to accept the death option the instant his name dawned upon her.

It was Huang.

Katara let out a low moan. Great, she'd be sparring with Mr. Execution. The Spirits must've really hated her…

Only mildly surprised, Katara watched as Chou slipped into the arena alongside the other three members. He dipped his head respectfully.

"Lady Katara, I introduce you to the rest of the reputable Hóng Yǒngshì."

The shortest male—a man around his early forties—bowed respectably to her. He had tanned skin, only a few shades lighter than Katara's, and short black hair. His dark green eyes and an odd black mustache standing out.

"I am Liang Liao of Fire Nation Province One. It is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Katara."

She couldn't help but notice how he sounded like an empty drone. His voice was monotonous and lacking any emotion.

The one next to Liang Liao just waved wildly at her, grinning wide enough that she swore his face would split. He looked younger than Liang Liao, and despite that, was significantly taller. He was less tanned than Liang Liao, had green eyes and black hair too (it was a wild, tangled mess and reached his shoulders), but he was considerably more _alive _than the other. Scratchy, unshaven stubbles spread across the length of his jaw and chin.

"The name's Ru Zha. 'Come from the same place as Liang."

"Huang, Fire Nation Mainland." Huang spat out, moving into a battle stance instantly. In his lead, the other three took on a fighting stance of their own, each one contrasting due to the different elements. The only one who stuck out like a sore thumb was Ru Zha and his sleek jian sword. She then noticed the utility belt the hung loosely around his hips. He was a non-bender.

But this didn't make Katara feel any more comfortable as she slipped into a sloppy excuse for a stance. Huang snorted in disdain at her pose, and all she wanted to do at that moment was Bloodbend his stupid face into a wall.

"You may be begin!" Zuko shouted.

In that instant, a gust of strong air knocked her off her feet. She fell and rolled onto the ground, barely coming to a stop when a blast of fire shot her way. She drew the water from the fountain and formed a wall, blocking the wave of heat at the last-minute. Steam exploded all over the arena, obscuring her view of her opponents. Drawing more water from the fountain, she formed a thin water whip, her eyes darting side-to-side searching for another gust of wind or spiraling fire.

There was none. She glanced around the arena once again, her heart beating madly in her ribcage, trying to assess where they were going to stri—_BOOM_!

A chunk of earth smashed into the wall only a few hair lengths away from her. She cursed and rolled out of the way of another rock trailing after her, her already racing heartbeat pounding in her ears. The rocks continued to hound her, a sick game of spider-cat and mouse. Katara couldn't be more thankful to Ty Lee for being her best friend and teaching how to move like a contortionist. A rock spiraled ahead of her, aiming to knock her head off of her shoulders. That instant she jumped high, her feet landing on the base of the rock before flipping off of it, landing shakily on her feet and out of the way of the boulder.

But that Earthbender—she assumed it was Liang Liao—was making her run in one direction when she realized that he wasn't hitting her on purpose. Not because he was being Mr. Nice Guy, but probably having something to do with the sword her face was nearly met with once the barrage of rocks stopped.

'_Agni be damned traps!'_

Close combat—something she feared she would never be good at—with Ru Zha had quickly made its way to the list of _Things Katara Will Never Do Again_. His attacks were quick—almost blindingly fast—swift, and hard. A punch in the stomach, a clip under the jaw, a sweep of the legs and she found herself on the ground again. She called a water whip, and made the liquid lash at his face, but he was faster and more agile than she was, bending over backwards in a way that would make the circus's contortionists jealous. Then he smiled—_smiled__ for Spirits sake!_—grabbed her arms, pinned them behind her and tossed her aside like a rag doll with strength he looked too young too possess. She slammed into the stonewall, the wind knocked out of her lungs and her head spinning, and fell to the floor with an aching moan. She slowly got up, trying to stay on her feet before someone like _Huang _or Liang Liao tried to kill her, but there was an unbearable pain in her back, knee and rib, disabling her abilities to stand properly.

_Speak of the devil and he comes._

Only seconds later, a large billow of fire flew right over her head. _Huang_…she lifted her arms and her hands began moving in spidery motions, picking up all traces of flowing blood around her. She clenched her fingers together and halted their movements. But she didn't have control for very long, because only a second later, the earth beneath her feet crawled up her legs and up to her chest, suspending her arms. She thrashed wildly around, but to no avail as Liang Liao's rocky prison only tightened around her until she only had enough air for shallow pants. Her pride and ego was shot—not that she had much of the latter, after all she was a war orphan, a ruffian and an ex-circus reject nearly all her life—and she felt humiliated and uncomfortable in this _stupid_ rock jail!

Ru Zha, he seemingly came from nowhere, patted her hard on the back, oblivious to the big bruise already forming there (all thanks to him, may she add). She winced and groaned.

"Ya' did a helluva' great job for a beginner!" he chirped, a splitting grin taking over his face. She officially decided he was the male version of Ty Lee.

Liang Liao let go of her restraints and she watched as the rocks sank back into the earth. He looked as if he hadn't even broken a sweat, and he probably didn't. He just gave a small nod in agreement to his companion and stood off to the side in silence.

Chou's eyes wrinkled as a light smile graced his thin lips, looking just as joyful—but less demented—as Ru Zha.

"You're fighting is indeed very impressive, Lady Katara! Your Bloodbending is a very frightening technique you possess, but you seem to have only a short time period of control over it." His grin never faltered. "But you have great reflexes! The way you jumped over Liang's boulder—it reminds me of the way Airbenders move so freely and lightly!"

Huang just scoffed, rolling his eyes. He reached into to his robes and pulled out what she assumed was a flask. Chou's jovial face hardened slightly as Huang guzzled it down in loud gulps.

"Huang, _don't_…" the Airbender murmured, taking a small step forward.

It happened quickly—Huang opened his mouth and _out of it_ came a _torrent of fire_. A wall of rock flew up and shielded her, but she could still feel the intense heat. Like she was baking in an oven. She backed up once, trying to move her fear-locked legs and ended up mutely falling to the ground.

"_Huang_!" it was a mixture of yells from both Chou and the Fire Lord, but Katara's blood was still pounding in her ears, an obnoxious ring obscuring most of her hearing.

There wasn't even the slightest look of fear or remorse on Huang's face, even as the Fire Lord approached him with a scowl evident on his. Ru Zha offered her a hand, in which she hesitantly took, lifting herself achingly off of the ground.

"Huang, _what the bloody hell _was that?!" Zuko hissed, not really asking a question. Huang just shrugged his shoulders, piercing yellow eyes fixed on Katara's.

"She's a filthy, Waterbending _whore_. I'm still surprised she hasn't been killed yet. Someone has to do it, sooner or later." He said casually, as if everyone should know that.

Despite her back and knee injuries, she was renewed with energy, trying her best to just _get the hell away from Ru Zha _and just murder Huang on the spot.

'_Just one punch across his smug, shit-eating face! That's all I ask for!'_

"Huang, I will have none of this nonsense! You are to treat your equals with respect!" his eyes flashed with anger, something a little darker flickering in golden irises. "You are not to attack a minor with something as lethal as _that_, let alone a woman who's injured enough as it is! Where the hell is your honor?"

And Huang just scoffed, choking back a roar of laughter and just left, leaving the Fire Lord rooted in his spot. Zuko missed only a single beat; nearly rushing forward with faint hints of sparks evident on his fingertips. But Chou, as swift as the wind, was at the Fire Lord's side in an instant, a hand holding him in place.

"It is better not to," she heard him say. "Huang has his issues. Leave him be."

Surprisingly, the Fire Lord's breathing evened out. He regained his posture and turned to her, his face impassive as if he wasn't almost ready to slit another man's throat a second ago.

"Chou will lead you to the Palace's infirmary, and you are to follow him." He didn't so much as look back at her before leaving the arena, probably going to do some of his "Lordly Business".

Katara didn't know Fire Lord Zuko much at all—seeing that she just met him—, but she quickly noticed that he was all about making rules and commands. And she was all for breaking those rules.

This was going to be complicated.

* * *

"_**T**__here are certain things that you must understand about becoming a Hóng Y__ǒ__ngshì. _Some of those things being simple: like the fact that you _must _endure a certain amount of proper training. Seeing that proper Waterbending trainers no longer exist…or rather _reside_…in the Mainland, you will be sent away."

It had been a day…or possibly two, her infirmary room didn't have any windows or clocks and she forgotten to ask Chou that question a couple of hours ago. But it had been some time that she had been lying in bed with a fractured rib and a bum knee. The injuries weren't too serious, the doctors went as far as to call them minor—Katara really didn't want to know what they've seen if a broken bone was considered minor—and said that they would heal quickly. Chou had taken haste in getting her familiarized with the rules and protocols of being a Red Warrior.

The position had its ups and downs, probably more downs than ups but she hadn't said this to Chou, who was overly elated to run her through the large stacks of old, yellowed papers. The young Waterbender picked through the words the Airbender read to her, picking out only the important ones. At first, she had tried to take in all the information at once, but she quickly gave up on that idea, glancing at the bundle of scrolls haphazardly discarded in the corner of her room.

Some of those good things being alliance with the Royal Family (she didn't care for this one), an extremely influential hand upon political affairs (she didn't care for this one either), and benefits for the Red Warrior's family, going as far as excusing them from the law and an access to the Fire Nation's funding. This would've been useful to her, had she actually possessed a legitimate family. There were many others, but they had mostly something to do with politics, war and other bullshit she didn't want to partake in.

Then there were the cons. Her number one drawback, even worse than working alongside the Fire Lord, was having to participate in quelling any rebellious riots and rallies against the Fire Lord. 15-years of having the Fire Lord run the rest of the world hadn't exactly subdued the outraged citizens, and rebellions were common all over the Regions and even more in the Provinces—which were more populated and bigger.

Even as a child, Katara was not foreign to these rebellions and what the Mainland did to these people who rallied. She's seen people burned alive from these. She's seen people fire-whipped to death because they had a voice that wanted to be heard. She's seen and heard the cries of children and people as their village was set on fire. She smelt the burning flesh and wood, and she's witnessed the ashes and eerie silence that was left in its quake.

She didn't want to hurt these people, but what else could she do when the Fire Lord was _this_ close to her?

She snapped back to Chou's voice.

"Wait, _what_?" she hissed, interrupting the aging man. His gray eyes flickered over to her blue ones.

"You will be going through training, Katara. Away from the Mainland." Her eyes brightened at this, not picking up the grim voice Chou spoke, nor the way he sighed or folded his hands over one another.

"Look, I know shouldn't probably be saying this out loud to you—you being a Red Warrior and all—but I can't wait to get the _hell_ out of the Mainland and out of this hellhole, back over to Province One,"

The Airbender raised a hand, stopping her ramblings. She noticed the small sad, remorseful smile playing at his lips, and her eyebrows kitted together in concern.

"Is it…is it something I said?"

He nodded slowly.

"You need to let me continue speaking sometimes, Lady Katara." He chastised lightly. But he continued monotonously, sounding like that Earthbending Red Warrior. "You won't be moved to a Province One Training Camp, Katara. You're going to Region Two. The Southern Water Tribe."

And her world crumbled around her.

* * *

_During times of war, hatred becomes quite respectable, even though it has to masquerade often under the guise of patriotism._

* * *

**A/N: Responses!**

**Nephertiri**-*enter heart here* Ack! I especially flipped out over this review! I was pretty sure no one would notice my link between the figurative and literal tightrope! I wasn't too pleased with the title at first, but it made sense so I kept it. I showed my mom your review. I was THAT happy and elated.

**MidnightCritic99**-;U; Thanks a bunch. I've read a crap load of Zuatara fics, and I couldn't help but notice the lack of "screwing around" with the roles of each character. That's where I come in.

**I'Mpossible12**-I try my best to write what I see in my head. And lucky you, this whole story is strictly from Katara's POV! Thanks for dropping a review, it makes my life!

**Guest—**why, thank you!

**Just know some things about the ages of my OC's: Ru Zha is 23, Huang is 36, Liang Liao is 41, Chou is 54, Hui-Fang (although we won't be hearing of her very often) is 65. Katara is age 19, and Zuko is age 22. If I made an of my OC's Mary Sue so far, for all that is good, you point that out in the harshest way you can. Right now, their personalities had been brushed upon, so do what you can with it.**

**Just one thing left, I usually upload in big clumps. Each chapter could range around 8,000-15,000 words and should be updated around the span of every two weeks, three if I am very busy.**

**-Luna**


	3. Act One: III

**A/N****: ****Hearts out to all of my brilliant reviewers, favoriters and alerters! Take all of my love *shnuggleshnuggle* Sorry about the lateness of this chapter. I was traveling a lot. When I got home I nearly ran to the computer to finish this up.**

**Also, not a lot—if any at all—Zutara in this chapter. I know, a drag. But this chapter is necessary for character/plot development. I have to set out the pot before we can step into any Zutara goodness. I know, a drag. D:**

_And it is here, dear readers that I warn you how odd, sick and twisted I am._

**There will be character death in abundance (OC's too cause damn it, some of them were just **_**created**_** to die) and not only **_**that**_**, but I'm one of those whole "each detail counts" types of people. Literally, adjectives and small details from Chapter One could help you solve a whole **_**mystery **_**that ends on chapter 19 or 20. Seriously, there are some details in Chapter One you will need to read over, some in here too, in order to help you not WTF when I reveal certain things. But don't worry, I'm not that bad a person—I will pick apart the carefully placed evidence and analyze them for you.**

**Also a tie in with the death and detailing, there will be a lot of this combination throughout this story. Each death is **_**specifically **_**placed where it is for very **_**specific **_**reasons that will make your brain explode later on. Most people in this story won't die for "the feelz". You are presented with this in this chapter. Just a small amount, but it is presented.**

**Sorry for a long author's note, but there is **_**one more thing**_**. Zuko does not have his scar in this story, and I forgot to tell you guys in Chapter Two. Before anybody throws giant tomatoes at me and order death by Nyan Cat, this also, to a degree, ties in with that chunk above. **_**Specific reasons that will be revealed**_**.**

**ONWARD.**

**Signed,**

**-Oten**

**Warning:***_**OOC**_**, OCs, AU, violence, gore, swearing, sexual **_**implications**_

_*****__Because, damn it, it _has_ been a while since I've last watched ATLA. Please, feel free to correct me when things get OOC to a point it's unbearable. I will try to keep them as in character as I can muster._

_**Disclaimer:**__ shame, I know. But I think I and every other Zutarian knows that if we got a hold of ATLA, it would just be just a bunch cartoon smut between Zuko and Katara. No Ozai, no comet, just shameless smut._

* * *

_**Tightrope**_

_**Act One: III**_

_Nadir_

* * *

_Learning is a gift that follows one everywhere._

* * *

_"__**Y**__ou won't be moved to a Province One Training Camp, Katara. You're going to Region Two. The Southern Water Tribe."_

_And her world crumbled around her._

"Region Two?" she repeated numbly. Chou nodded his head slowly, quickly picking up on how tender of a topic this was.

"Yes, Region Two."

There was a pregnant pause, no sound in the room other than Katara's erratic breathing. She blinked once, and then spoke.

"Whose idea was it to put me there?" she spat, not caring if the other male before wasn't the cause of her problems.

"Fire Lord Zuko's."

Her nostrils flared. _That bastard_! Was he trying to make her hate him even more than she did already? Because if he was, he was doing one hell of a great job at it! Tanned fingers clutched onto the soft, white sheets in the infirmary, trying to find a way—anyway—to vent her anger.

Chou raised his hand, almost silently asking her to quell her murderous thoughts.

"Lady Katara, I ask of you not to take this personally, at all." Gray eyes looked understandingly into blue ones, almost instantly calming her. She's always heard of Air Nomads being a peaceful race of people, and now that she was face-to-face with one, she could confirm this. He didn't seem to lose his temper often and was just smiling all of the time, treating everyone with equal respect. Even though Katara knew little to nothing about Chou, she admitted somewhere in her brain that he was the most bearable out of the people she met recently.

"It is only part of the protocol that you are sent to your homeland to train. It is supposed to offer you comfort during your training. But these scrolls and rules were made before the 85-Year war. The people who created these rules could've never predicted that our homelands would be reduced to excessive Fire Nation Training Bases."

Katara released the sheets she was holding onto, the anger that she felt mere seconds ago washed over by a wave of sadness and the distinct, bitter feeling of hopelessness. This was the Southern Water Tribe she was being moved to, the place where all of the natives there are locked into cramped, underground prisons. They wanted her to train in her homeland—above these wrongfully imprisoned people—for the sake of protecting the very man who was probably keen on keeping them there. She could do nothing about this, and the feeling that she never will crept up on her in the form of tears forming at her lids.

But Katara blinked them back, squeezing her eyes shut and counting to ten. Tears couldn't do anything for her or those people inside of the icy cells.

Chou sat up from his seat, brushing off invisible wrinkles from his uniform and grabbed his armful of scrolls.

"I'll give you time to…recuperate…and I'll return when you think you're feeling up to it." He gave a short wave and quickly left, leaving Katara to herself.

She didn't want to be alone right now, but nor did she want anyone's company. She wanted somebody to tell her everything will be all right, but she knew that person would be lying to her. It was just her and her mind; she's realized it's been that way for a while, and probably going to be that way for many years to come.

Chou didn't come back for nearly two hours, so she fell in and out of sleep, only waking up to relieve herself or to be checked upon by the nurses. Her dreams were disturbed, like always, but only more vivid than they have ever been in years. It was always this same, small group of people, so she assumed they had to have been her family. A man and women, an old woman, and the other—she was finally able to define this xim as human rather than a pet—had probably been a sister, a brother or a close friend. But they were all faceless.

Perhaps in her dreams they all had individual faces and different personalities, but once she left her subconscious state, all them blurred together, leaving nothing else in its quake other than a painful, empty gap in her chest. She couldn't remember anything particular about her stay in the Southern Water Tribe—she couldn't see anything outside of the small hut she believed was their house—and everybody else that should've mattered to her didn't, because she didn't know who they were. How is she supposed to love somebody she didn't know?

Her night continued on like this until the morning, when Chou came into her room and broke her insomnia. He sat down on the same chair as the day before, only this time with a small tray of tea his hands instead of heavy scrolls. Katara stared at him blankly, the hollow feeling of not knowing about her past still evident in her heart. She knew she had just dreamed about them mere seconds ago—the tale-tell vacant feeling was lingering there—before Chou came, but she couldn't remember anything.

Nothing.

Not a single snowflake, not a single laughter, not a single distinction from one family member to another, just the empty nothingness.

Chou offered her tea and she was about to refuse it when she realized how parched she was. She grabbed one of the porcelain cups and carefully brought it to her lips, making sure to blow on its contents before sipping it slowly.

"It's ginseng, if you wanted to know." Chou said after a while. Katara mutely nodded her head, still trying to rack through her muddled brain for anything that could help her remember these people she was supposed to love. Chou still continued speaking, and she wasn't sure if he noticed her distant state or not, but he chose to not acknowledge it.

"I know a lot about tea, really, I do. There's ginseng, oolong, white tea, black tea, yellow tea, Pu-erh tea…" he drifted off and then started again. "I know a lot, but I had a great friend who knew all the types of teas in the world. There was no tealeaf he couldn't recognize, no batch he couldn't make. He was a great man."

She gave up trying to figure out, seeing that these memories have long since left her. The Waterbender glanced up. Chou had a small, sad smile on his face and she suddenly felt guilty for not listening to him with her full attention.

"Is he…" she began, not exactly sure why she had decided to pipe up all of a sudden.

"Dead?" he finished for her. "Yes. He died years back, eight years ago actually."

"Oh…I'm sorry for asking, I didn't mean to…"

He raised both of his hands and shook his head. "Nothing to be sorry for, really. It was eight long years ago, and it often feels as if he still lives today."

She nodded slowly, realizing that this friend of his probably lived through the memories they shared before. A small pang of jealousy rose in her throat like bile, but she forced it down.

"He was a General of the Fire Nation, but he retired a couple of years before the war ended."

"What, the war was getting too easy for him?" it was supposed to be a joke, but her voice lacked the lightness it should've held.

Chou shook his head. "No, he never believed in what he was doing, so he decided to stop. He brought great shame to his family for this act of cowardice, so they called it, but they still allowed him to live without exile."

Katara cast her eyes downward. She didn't know why Chou was telling her this, but she wasn't going to stop him.

"He sounds…sounded," she corrected. "Like a really amazing man, really, he does." She didn't know if she sounded earnest but she hoped she did.

"He was…can you guess who he was?"

She shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I don't know a lot about Mainland History."

"Alright, I'll give you his name, but you have to guess which family he came from. His name was Iroh."

Katara fully knew she was no good at guessing, but she tried anyways, trying not to ponder too much on death. Her lips pursed together in concentration. She's only heard of noble families here and there in her life, and only so few she remembered.

"The Shí family?"

"No."

"The Xióng family?"

"No."

"The Kǒng family?"

"No."

Quickly running out of patience, she tried her best to guess the family name in a clump.

"Is it the Hóu, Shào, Mèng, Lóng, _or_ Wàn family?"

"Nope, no, uh-uh, not even close and the Wàn family has been exiled from the Fire Nation Mainland seventeen years ago."

He suddenly remembered a noble family that was actually legitimate. That creepy Zhang Qiang guy from the circus…

"Is it the Qiang family?"

This quieted Chou, and for a moment Katara felt glee. But the glee was suddenly squashed at the pointed look Chou was giving her through narrowed eyes.

"…The Qiang family? The Qiang family has been murdered for treason over a hundred years ago." She must've looked very confused, because the suspicion in his gray eyes disappeared instantly. "Never mind that. Do you give up?"

She scoffed.

"Might as well! The only other noble family I know of is the Royal Family and—oh, _oh_."

He grinned broadly at her, tilting his head to the side.

"I thought that would've been your first choice."

"Well the Royal Family isn't exactly made up of benevolent people, as you describe Iroh to be." She muttered, a particular pain-in-the-ass Fire Lord in mind.

Chou sighed, probably already aware of whom she was thinking of. "I'd be lying if I said Fire Lord Zuko wasn't like _that_ all of the time, but he does have his better moments. Rare, they are, but still present."

She allowed herself a small grin.

"They must be really rare."

"Extremely rare."

"Rarer than the most precious diamonds in the world?"

"Most _definitely_ rarer than that. It's silly you even ask."

A grin broke across her features. Yes, Chou was the most bearable person she's met recently _by far_.

* * *

"_**A**__ll aboard!_ We won't be waiting another minute for you idiots to climb on board!" the loud voice boomed from above.

Katara slapped her hands over her ears—maybe with too much force because now the sides of her face were throbbing—and winced. A scowl deep enough to rival the Fire Lord's took over her features as she ground her teeth.

"Must he be so Agni-be-damned loud? I can't even hear myself think!" she hissed. Chou stood at the other side of her, his arms folded of the metal railing of the ship.

"I wouldn't say that aloud if I were you. You think that the Fire Lord is cruel, but compared to Captain Zhao, he is a harmless koala-bear."

She tried to imagine a Zuko koala-bear with a vicious scowl and a topknot. It didn't look even remotely close to either of its contributors.

"If you say so." She muttered under her breath, shaking the ludicrous image out of her head.

They had just climbed aboard a Mainland ship that would be transporting people and cargo to Region Two. Most of these people were like her, going to the frosty land to train, but she's noticed the diversity. There were people traveling to Region Two to become war nurses, soldiers, navies, Royal Guards and a bunch of other stuff she couldn't remember Chou saying to her. It turned out the middle aged man was joining her on her journey to Region Two, claiming that he had old friends there to catch up with, but she had a feeling that the Fire Lord asked him to watch her.

The trip would be long, Chou estimated about two to three weeks if the weather was good, and Katara wasn't looking forward to sleeping on the floor as she had on the ship to the Mainland when she lived with the circus. When she brought this up to the Air Nomad, he stared at her as if she had grown two wings and an extra arm.

"The _floor_?" he had all but exclaimed, throwing his arms up into the air. "_The floor_?! You are a part of the honorable _Hóng Y__ǒ__ngshì_! Nobody will be sleeping on the floor. We actually have assigned, separate suites above deck." He fixed his clothes, huffing and muttering things about 'respect' and 'honor' and 'etiquette'. "Follow me, Lady Katara."

And she did. When he had opened the door to her room, she almost relived the scene in the Mainland Capital. The room was _lavishing_, absolutely stunning. The walls were painted a deep, royal red with gold lining each corner of the ceiling. From the bottom up to mid-way on the walls were golden fire designs that glimmered in the candlelights, making them look alive. The bed had a thick canopy over it, and when she moved them aside, she hadn't been surprised to see how big the bed was. It was adorned in silken black sheets with gold, orange and red pillows that looked as if it could've been made from the embers of a fire. There was a bathroom, just as grand as the bedroom, and a walk in closet.

The closet had dark red and black parkas that looked a bit too big for her, but she was more than grateful.

"Do enjoy your stay, Lady Katara." Chou said politely, bowing before leaving. The moment the door closed, it opened again, Chou's fluffy gray-brown hair and head poking into her room. "Just one thing—we will be practicing your fighting skills in the morning. You need to be prepared for Region Two."

"Okay—wait, _what_?" the (sneaky) Air Nomad had already gone with the wind. Practice? _Already_? She wanted to be able enjoy this luxury to the best of her abilities, but she knew that training would be for the best.

Sighing, she plopped down on the bed, closing her eyes. This time, she was going to try to remember whom the hell her dreams were about before she reached—

"Lady Katara," a small, foreign voice sounded from behind the door. The young Waterbender barely resisted a loud moan as she slowly removed her body from the bed.

'_So much for going to sleep,' _she thought, opening the door, plastering a great, big fake smile for whoever disturbed her. A thin middle-aged woman with short bone-straight hair bowed down low, her fist meeting her palm in the formal Fire Nation greeting.

"Good day, Lady Katara." She stepped aside and presented a small metal food cart. "My name is Lu and I will be serving you during your stay here."

A servant? Katara wasn't too keen on the idea. When she lived in the circus, she had been treated in a similar way as servants were. Always getting people's things, being treated like dirt, never being able to speak your mind and not even being credited in the end of it all. It was horrible feeling she didn't want anyone to endure.

"Look, you don't have to serve me—really—I can handle myself perfectly fine." She mumbled. Instead of looking pleased or happy as Katara had originally anticipated she would be, she looked insulted. As if Katara had just coughed up the biggest glob of spit and just spat on her shoes.

"Nonsense." Lu took the tray of food and side stepped Katara, walking directly into her room. The young Waterbender could only stare at the place where the maidservant had just been.

"Aren't you going eat your food, Lady Katara?" she chipped, placing the food down on her bed. Although she was keen on sleeping, her stomach did feel very empty at the moment, seeing that she hadn't eaten since the early morning.

"Yes, I will." She muttered, closing the door and sitting on the bed. There was komodo chicken, rice, dumplings, gingers, carrots…her stomach growled as she marveled the sight.

'_This is a thousand times better than that damned boxed food at the circus.'_

Lu bowed and placed her cup of tea on the metal tray before bowing again.

"If you need my assistance, alert one of the ship members, Lady Katara. Until then, I bid adieu."

Once the door was closed—and locked, Katara wasn't up for any more visitors—she began to eat her food animatedly. She never had time to practice the proper eating etiquette back in the circus, so when she was presented with mouthwatering food, she had all but scarfed it down it big bites. After nearly chocking on a small piece of chicken, she made the wise decision to slow down and eat the food in small bites. She didn't want to be made fun of in Region Two for eating like a "lowly barbarian" or something alike. And plus the food was delicious, so she wanted to savor the spicy, tangy flavors.

When she finished, she set the dishes aside and went to sleep in the luxurious bed, snuggling into the thick, black blankets. She tried to stay between a conscious and subconscious state for as long as she could muster, in order to retrieve these memories or dreams that haunted her nearly every night, but she was more than frustrated to figure out that these particular dreams did not come to her. Instead, it was a jumble of events that happened to her in the past week. Living in the Mainland, leaving the circus, Hui-Fang's hateful glare, becoming a part of the Red Warriors—really, it was a lot for a young girl to take in.

Fate seemed to have all sorts of different plans for her, she's noticed. Around age nineteen, the average girl living in the provinces and Mainland alike would be married by now. She would probably be pregnant at that age, more than likely with her second child and she would stay home and be a good little housewife and mother for her husband.

Funny, the way her life was looking, none of that was going to be happening anytime soon. It was rare that men married women who held a high-ranking military status, and even rarer that the said woman would even be thought of as a betrothal choice. Most of the men nowadays wanted a submissive woman who only spoke when spoken to, patched up their pants and cooked dinner every night without so much as a _thank you_. But that wasn't Katara. Once upon a time this may have been her dream life, but now, the very thought was like bile on her tongue. True, the inner teenage girl in her wanted someday to be married someday, but the rational part of her brain told her that the "one day" she was looking for would be in her next life.

To no surprise, she was woken early in the morning by the jovial Chou. He gave her a couple of minutes to change into her training uniform (it had been in a far part of her closet) and offered her some oolong tea, which she took.

It was dawn, the sun barely creeping over the horizon. The vast sea was dark, but the scarce rays of sunlight reflected off of the waves, making the body of water look a little less foreboding. At the back of the ship, and area had been cleared for their training, a couple of wooden staffs and swords sprawled out on the floor.

When Katara made it to the makeshift training grounds, she was presented with Chou sitting cross-legged on the ground. She bowed formally to him before joining him.

"Good morning, Lady Katara."

"Good morning, Chou—I mean Sifu Chou."

He let out a low chuckle. "No need for formalities, this isn't proper training anyways."

He finished his cup of tea and placed it at the side of him. "Today, we are going to start with the very basics of Airbending—serenity and peace of mind."

Katara threw him an odd look through wide blue eyes.

"I'm not an Airbender."

"I know, but it doesn't mean you can't learn the ways of Airbenders. This exercise should be fairly easy for you. They do say Water is the most flexible element."

She nodded mutely, accepting this answer. But there was still a gnawing feeling that she wouldn't be able to complete this first lesson, for those dreams of her faceless family left her everything else other than peace of mind.

Almost reading her thoughts, he paused then said; "Is there something troubling you?"

Her shoulders tensed and her fingers wrapped a bit too firmly around her cup of tea. She wasn't ready to let anyone know about her faceless family—not until she figured out who they were. And plus, the last thing she wanted Chou to think was that she couldn't even complete the basics of Airbending. Too many people thought little of her, and she wouldn't want to add him to the long list.

"No, I'm fine," was the Waterbender's quiet response. He didn't look convinced, but nor did he press her.

This "peace of mind" stuff had turned out to be an elaborate method of meditating. Chou had been talking on about chakras and chi, but she couldn't absorb all of this at once, only being able to understand the minimum of what he was saying. They continued meditating—although she wasn't feeling the "spiritual connection" that he'd been so keen on telling her about—and before long, she felt momentary bliss. She had blocked out the physical world, as he had instructed, and focused on the synched push and pull of the waves and her spirit. Her mind was whirling about like a flooded stream only minutes ago, but now her thoughts were organized, no longer begging for attention all at once.

Katara was almost dejected when the older Air Nomad claimed that it was the end of the lesson that day. _What_, the lesson had lasted only fifteen to twenty minutes at most! When she protested, all he did was give her a wrinkled smile and said: "Patience is a virtue."

Unfortunately for Katara, she didn't _have _a lot of patience, so the wait for tomorrow's lesson seemed to drag on.

Lu had delivered Katara's breakfast after training (she was stepping out of the bath tub when the maidservant came knocking), and then her lunch by the time the sun rose fully to the sky. Other than that, the day went on uneventfully.

Practice with Chou became easier and easier, and she found herself enjoying the meditation more than she had originally anticipated. They had even begun moving onto the basic forms of fighting (Katara now felt foolish for fighting the way she did when she had to battle the Red Warriors) and a little bit bending was involved.

Her flexibility was something Chou had taken great delight to—often commenting how fitting it would be if she were an Airbender—and told her to incorporate her fluid movements to her bending. Her Airbending—as the elder man chose to call it—lessons had gone along nicely, seeing that she completed the basics in the first week of being on the ship.

During the second week, however, she was presented with the difficulties of the Earthbending fighting styles. She was getting fairly used to the calm, paced movements of Airbending, and the occasional Waterbending, so when she was presented with quick, brash bending, she was winded. Earthbending, as he had told her, was about using one's surroundings to their advantage. There were no slow, over deliberate movements in Earthbending, but swift arm movements and footwork. No sitting and meditating, just using whatever resources you had to land a precise, heavy blow onto your opponent. When using Earthbending forms, Katara began to pick up the things she hadn't noticed before. The stances allowed her to become more observing of her surroundings, more aware of the things going outside of her body and relying more on pure instinct than training.

Then there was Firebending, which had successfully taken up the last two weeks she had on the ship. Unlike Earthbending, which used the sources external of the body and mind, Firebending was all about using internal sources. There was even a way of breathing she had to learn…It became such a pain in the ass. There were so many forms of Firebending stances; Katara could only remember about three of them. Kicks, punches, balance, aim and breathing; it was a summary of Firebending.

She had been out on the deck training with Chou when she finally realized that they were _so close _to Region Two. Although it looked pretty far away, he was informed they should be able to make it there by night.

Though, unluckily for her, she had been too busy staring at the icy landmass that she failed to evade Chou's sweeping legs and fell flat on her behind. She let out a curse as she rubbed her butt with her mitten covered hands.

"Remember what I told you when going through the forms of Earthbending?" the Air Nomad said evenly, helping her up to her feet.

Katara scoffed, resisting rolling her eyes in remembrance. "Yes, Chou. _'Earthbending is all about sensing the things around you rather than the things inside of you_.'" She mimicked, deepening her voice to sound like him. But the elder man only gave her a wrinkled smile before going back into the Firebending stance. She followed in suit, but this time going into a more offensive pose rather than the defensive one she tried last time.

"Begin!"

She attacked first, sending a torrent of water from the ocean onto the boat with a single hand gesture. Chou ducked and punched the air, a gust of wind nearly knocking Katara onto her feet. But she froze the water around her legs, keeping her in place until the wind subsided. Unfreezing the water, Katara took quick steps forward, lashing her arms out and sending a dozen of ice blades at Chou. Using the air, he easily redirected her own attack, sending it right back at her with greater force.

She quickly unfroze the sharp icicles and formed a water whip, slashing consistently at her opponent until she forgot what the phrase she had just recited mere minutes ago, and was knocked down by a surge of air behind her. Chou quickly helped her off of the ground and grinned broadly.

"Master Pakku is going to enjoy training you." He chipped brightly. But then he paused, scratching his head. "More or less."

Not bothering to ask who Master Pakku was, or what the "more or less" meant, Katara yawned and trudged back to her room for a bath, not before thanking Chou earnestly for helping her train.

Lu had left food on her bed, but Katara decided not to eat until she bathed. The last time she tried to that, the sweat dripping from her forehead had fell into her tea, and she was less than pleased about this.

She stripped out of her clothes and took a quick batch. She then lounged around in her towel—Spirits above, her body was sore—for Agni knows how long, picking at the cabbage and noodles and popping them into her mouth.

She blinked once, going back into the cursed confines of her brain for what seemed like the millionth time that day. In hours, she would be going back to her homeland, but she had long since stopped recognizing the place as her home. Her home wasn't some excessive Fire Nation Base; her home was the great, beautiful icy wonderland that she assumed it once was. That sorry excuse for a base was nothing she was going to call home—even the circus seemed much more welcoming right now.

Then the thoughts of her family dawned upon her. More than likely, they were lost forever. More than likely, the group of faceless people in that hut would all be wasted away by now, rotted in the prison cell.

The dreams…or memories were useless to her. She wanted to get rid of them, desperately, but she had the hollow feeling that they would be sticking with her for years and years and years. She couldn't stop the small pit of jealousy that bubbled within her when it came to Chou's memories. He said that his friend lived on in his memories, and he was happy about it. But the way her family lived on in her memories, she was upset and disturbed by it.

She had drifted off into an uncomfortable, cold sleep, so when she had awoken at night, there was a painful crick in her neck. Obviously Lu had gone into her room because there was no longer a tray of dirty dishes on her bed, and she had a cover thrown of her shoulders. Really, she had to thank that lady.

There was a lot of commotion going on, and the ship was no longer moving.

They had reached Region Two.

* * *

"_**P**__eople, to be-students and teachers of the glorious Fire Nation Region Two! _I welcome you to the Fire Nation Region Two Training Base!"

The man standing above on the stone platform threw his hands to either side of him, grinning broadly at the applause from the mass of people below him. On one side of him, the students of honor stood rigidly, on the other, the guests of honor. It was like a student ceremony of sorts, or some type of welcoming gathering for the poor students taking part of this hellhole training camp.

Katara tried her best not to fidget in her spot—she didn't want to come off as some weakling already. The girl beside her, possibly older than her by a year or two, stood with such poise that it made Katara feel jealous. She had her chin held up high, a look of impassiveness over a pale face. Her bone-straight black hair, which was partially put up into two buns, and amber eyes looking elegant and beautiful even in the poor lighting. From the thick, red parka lined with wolf fur, she could easily tell this girl was Mainland nobility.

She looked down at herself, feeling very odd in the formal Red Warrior attire. There was an abundance of black armor—armor lining her shoulder blades up to her neck, her arms, her abdominal and down to her hips—and gold linings. Along her shoulder armor, there were sharp teeth from the long extinct race of dragons, and down her back was a flowing red cape with a large Fire Nation insignia on the back. Curled-toed boots climbed up to her calves, and dark red pants were tucked in them. Her hair was put up in a traditional Fire Nation topknot and was held up by a dragon emblem.

"…Now for our guests of honor!" The man moved his hand on the right side of him, a great big grin taking over his features. "I present to you, Chou of Fire Nation Province Two, Senior Member of the Hóng Yǒngshì and Master Airbender!"

The crowd erupted in applause, hoots and hollers drowning out the speaker's attempt to quell their excitement. He raised his hand, ordering for silence.

"And beside our honorable Master Chou, Captain Zhao of the Fire Nation Mainland!"

This applause was louder than Chou's, clearly stating the Captain held a higher reputation in Region Two. A notorious or honorable reputation, Katara didn't know. The speaker moved his hand over to the other side.

"And as of our students of honor, I present to you Lady Mai, Noblewoman of the Fire Nation Mainland!"

The claps continued. Katara's nervousness only doubled when the speaker glanced at her, a cruel smile taking over his rugged features. Her brows lightly dipped into the center of her face, a frown pulling at her lips.

"And lookie' _here_," he said, his voice going low and mischievous, dropping all of the formalities. Her fists clenched together, waiting for the troubles that was soon to come. "Our most honorable student—Katara—has already been accepted into the Hóng Yǒngshì!" he threw his hands up into the air, an eyebrow rising suggestively. "My…I wonder what she _did_ to get there. Care to demonstrate later in my cabin?"

There was a roar of laughter from the crowd and Katara felt herself go pale. That _bastard _practically called her some floozy _whore _who slept her way up the ranks! And as _if _she would even sleep with such a degrading, belittling son of a bitch like him—hell, she'd rather take her chances with the Fire Lord!

She didn't even understand why she was surprised. Katara wouldn't put it behind him to openly demean her in front of everyone. She wouldn't put it behind any Mainlander.

Suddenly, all of Chou's Earthbending lectures made sense to her. She could now feel the icicles hanging off of the side of the stone platform, which could easily be used as daggers. The new, lightly falling snow could easily be changed from harmless precipitation to a rain of tiny vanes. The water in his eyes could be frozen over, and whatever internal dilemma she would've had about doing any of these didn't exist as she worked her hands, lifting the icicles from side of the platforms. Chou noticed this, and sent a gust of air at her attempt, knocking the ice-blades down to the floor.

"You…you…" was all she managed to get out before Chou took control of the situation. He punched the air, sending a powerful blast of wind out into the sky, the boom loud enough to shake the earth beneath her.

Chou faced the speaker, an uncharacteristic scowl evident on his face.

"Liu! You are to treat Lady Katara with respect! Unlike you, she wasn't handed her position through succession." He pointed a meaty finger at Liu. "Lady Katara had the skills and agility to be immediately accepted into the Hóng Yǒngshì without second thought. Don't you forget that she technically has a higher rank than you, and if she pleases, can have you reported and stripped of your position for insubordination and sexual harassment!"

The crowd was silent, including the man—she now assumed that he was the Headmaster of the base—who insulted her. Not missing a beat, he threw on a big smile and said: "Meeting adjourned, dear students and staff. Teachers, do direct the students into the barracks according to their skill level and future occupations."

The group of people began to separate, going to the directed areas. Chou gave her a small wave of his hand, ordering her to go to her teachers as he pulled the Headmaster off to the side.

Still miffed, Katara jumped off the platform with more force than necessary, the snow billowing around her and settling on her clothes. A particularly cold gust of wind chilled the Waterbender to the bone. The armor she was wearing obviously wasn't suited for this sub-zero, polar temperature.

"It wouldn't have worked,"

Katara whipped her head around, eyes wide and shoulders tense at the voice. She calmed down, noticing it was that noblewoman that was next to her on the platform. Her shock then melded into confusion.

"What wouldn't have worked?" she inquired slowly. Mai rolled her eyes, and a small frown formed at Katara's lips again for the umpteenth time that day.

"I'm talking about those ice-daggers."

The young Waterbender's heart raced. She had seen? Would she get in trouble for trying to harm the Headmaster? Would this Mai noblewoman tell on her? Should she lie? Should she tell the truth?

"Y-you saw?" was her ingenious response.

"Yes, I think me and nearly everyone in the front row saw that. After all, it's not every day that icicles just magically lift themselves off of platforms." She flicked her wrists flippantly. "But that's not the point. The icicles were far too dull to do any real damage." She dug into her parka and pulled out three thin daggers. Katara flinched. Who the _bloody hell _carried around daggers in their parkas? That's absolutely _ridiculous_, not to mention completely creepy and paranoid! "Something like these—" she gestured towards the blades in her hand. "—would've done a better job. Or at least something sharper."

Katara nodded mutely, her eyes still fixed on the daggers. But Mai tucked them away and began to walk off. Then the noblewoman stopped.

"You might want to get moving, the teachers won't stay out for long in this weather."

Just as Mai finished saying that, a violent wind nearly knocked Katara on to her side, white snowflakes obscuring her vision. She squinted, but the noblewoman seemed to have disappeared.

Brushing this off, she began her trek to the other side of the Region Two Training Base clearing. Her journey to the other side would've been easy, hadn't her boots been so painfully cold and unfit for the weather. She tucked her hands underneath her arms, trying to get the feeling to return to her fingertips. There was a blue banner hanging on a mall, black building. Beneath it, two elder people stood. The both of them were obviously from the Water Tribes—their tell tale blue eyes and tan skin was a dead giveaway—and by the look of their formal red parkas, she guessed they were teachers.

Once she made it over to them, the two quickly looked her up and down. The short, old woman gave Katara a pleasant smile while the other just stood there with his arms folded a scowl over wrinkled features. Katara bowed formally to the pair, and the woman reciprocated her actions. The man didn't move an inch. She had a feeling they wouldn't be getting along very well.

"I am Hama," the woman spoke. "I will be your Bloodbending teacher, Lady Katara."

Katara's lips formed into a thin line. Ever since Chou's been teaching her more and more about Waterbending, the less she started using Bloodbending. Granted, it was big relief to her tired mind not having to use Bloodbending (the art called for all of her attention, more than he was able to give), but now she was going to be a bit rusty. She hadn't Bloodbended anything (she wasn't even going to think about Bloodbending Chou or Lu, and Captain Zhao was out of the question) in weeks.

"I am Master Pakku; I will be your Waterbending teacher."

Katara nodded her head.

"Sifu Hama, Master Pakku, it is an honor to be taken under your wings as your apprentice." The words were recited; the Air Nomad had run her through them a couple of times before she left the ship. He had advised she be as humble as she could towards her teachers to get on their good side. And despite the words not coming from her heart, she really was grateful for their guidance in her bending.

By now, the groups have settled out. There was a large number of navies and soldiers, the both of those groups combined nearly taking up half of the student population. The war nurses had been a relatively small group, and the Special Task Force (surprisingly Mai was in this group) was even smaller. But as Katara sat there and watched everyone, she finally noticed something off with her group, dare she even call it that.

"Sifu Hama," she said turning around. The said woman lifted a white eyebrow at her, signaling her continuation. "Where are the rest of the Waterbenders?"

Hama's face suddenly went grim, her lips set into a thin line and her eyes dark. "There's been quite the shortage of Waterbenders for the past 15 years, Katara. I can only assume that the number of Waterbenders left in this world can be counted on your fingers. It's a rarity that Pakku—let alone I—get a student." Her somber features evened out. "You really are a sight for sore eyes, Katara."

The Waterbender felt her cheeks warm, still not accustomed to compliments. Master Pakku snorted.

"Don't go buttering her up now, Hama; we have yet to know if she's any good."

There was a gut feeling that she and Master Pakku were most definitely not going to be getting along any time soon.

* * *

_**T**__he barracks were swelling with students from all Provinces and Regions. _It seemed as if the snowy base was just a big melting pot of ethnicities. Province Two, Province One, Mainlanders—Katara gave up counting long ago. The only thing missing in abundance were Water Tribesman and woman. There were the few half-breeds, the mixed people that hardly stood out, but they looked like they were too ashamed to even admit that there was Water Tribe blood in them.

But Katara knew where her people were—they were in an underground prison. This knowledge drove her mad, knowing that she was so close to people who could possibly know who her family was, but yet they were so far away at the same time.

She shook her head, getting them out of her head. She had other things to focus on. One of those many things being the ability to find her room. All of these doors looked so much alike…the only difference between the one door and the next was the small, black characters burned into the wood. Each room was able to fit four people, so she would be sharing with others.

Chou had apologized for the lack of personal space—it seemed as if the private room he had reserved for had mysteriously been burnt down—and there wasn't any more open rooms for her to have by herself. But Katara didn't mind, after all, this was the same woman who had slept in a crowded tent most of her life.

When she found her room, her roommates were already in there. There were two bunk beds in the room, a dresser, a lantern and a small bathroom. There wasn't any decoration besides some of the pictures the students already began to hang up. She scanned around the room, the only empty bed being the one at the bottom left so she took it. Her stuff, which had not been much, was with Lu and the dreary woman had yet to come and deliver them to her room.

She settled herself on the hard, thin mattress, trying to get comfortable. This abomination beneath her felt as if she was lying on a rock, and she yearned for the bed back in the ship.

"So we're roommates."

If Katara had a silver coin for every time someone snuck up on her, she'd be rich—filthy, _stinking_ rich. The young Waterbender jumped, her head banging against the accursed bottom side of the top bunk. She rubbed her head, a sour expression on her face as she turned to her intruder.

"Mai?"

"Who else?"

The girl was leaning over the top bunk, so her body was pretty much upside down. Katara found it both amusing and odd that she still managed to keep an impassive face in such a strange position. Katara blinked. Mai blinked only seconds later. Katara inhaled. Mai exhaled. Katara's toes curled uncomfortably. Mai shifted her weight.

Finding herself growing uneasy under Mai's stare, Katara inwardly frowned. Damn it, why was she _staring_? Couldn't she just go back to the top bunk already? The young Waterbender was surprised the blood hadn't rushed to Mai's head already—it's been nearly a full two minutes and she made no signs of moving.

"So, um…" Katara started, trying to make the situation less awkward.

"I don't care for small talk."

'_Well, damn.'_

"Well, then what _do_ you want?" she snapped.

Mai lifted her body up and there was a creak as she plopped back down on her bed.

"Nothing," she said nonchalantly. She stopped talking, but then started again. "How did you make it into the Red Warriors?"

"Particular and lethal abilities," Katara responded in an equally nonchalant tone. Mai grunted, but otherwise was silent, sensing that the other wasn't in the mood to speak. Then Katara noticed the other girl also on a bottom bunk. She was tossing a sharp knife in the air and catching it with one hand, almost as if it was a harmless ball rather than a lethal weapon.

The girl had tan skin with short brown hair and green eyes. She looked almost as bored as Mai did, but a little more annoyed. She continued throwing the knife up into the air until she assumedly got tired of it, and instead of tucking it away, threw it against the wall. There was a rattling bang and the girl let out a satisfied smirk.

"That's _my _wall." She said, grabbing another knife and throwing right next to the other. She did this quite a few more times, the thuds turning rhythmic after a while, and Katara looked at the work she did. Entirely spelled out of knives were the letters "SB".

"SB?" Katara asked out loud. The girl tossed a dart up into the air and caught it.

"For Smellerbee."

"Oh."

The last girl, Katara didn't even notice her on the bunk above Smellerbee, scoffed.

"That's a ridiculous name."

"That's a ridiculous face."

The girl got up from her bed and glared down at both Smellerbee and Katara.

"Ugh, are these _seriously _my roommates?"

Katara stole a quick glance at her. Amber eyes, black hair, alabaster skin—Mainlander.

Figures.

"Damn right, now deal with it." was Smellerbee's quip.

"A Region Two escaped prisoner, a Province One, dart-throwing peasant, and a depressed Mainlander? Agni!"

"Do you _ever _shut up?" Mai heckled from her place on the bed. The other Mainland girl ought to weigh her decisions; there was one pissed off, tired Red Warrior and two dart throwing experts to be going against. It'd be wise to shut up right then and there.

"I don't have to listen to any of you!" she glared at Mai as if everything wrong in the world was her fault. "And you—a Mainland noblewoman—are defending these peasant scums? These bottom feeders? Are you crazy? Don't lower yourself to these peasants level! You are high nobility! We could've been friend—"

"I wouldn't _want _to be friends with someone like you. Now shut up," Mai hissed, rubbing her temples. "Your voice is giving me a headache."

Smellerbee sniggered. Katara allowed herself a small smile. Although she did have to add her roommate's name to the long list of people who hated her, there were two people—a Mainlander and a Province One dart-thrower—to counter this.

The next morning, they were woken _very _early, before the sun even peeked above the horizon. There was a loud horn that woke them up (Katara nearly jumped out of the bed at the loud sound, and that bitchy Mainlander girl screamed) and Katara already knew the instrument was going to be giving her hell during her stay. Robotically, the young ladies quickly got dressed in their appropriate training outfits (apparently Smellerbee and Mai both were in the Special Task Force training and the other one was a war nurse). The uniforms looked all identical beside the small insignias on the left breast. To no surprise, Katara's insignia was a golden-colored dragon and she was the only one wearing it.

Everyone assembled outside in the cold, frozen clearing. The students from her barrack took haste in getting to their appointed teachers, organizing themselves in mere minutes. Katara just walked over to where she saw Hama and Pakku standing. Hama had a kind smile on her face while Pakku just stood and frowned (as she quickly learned he did often).

Hama bowed respectfully, and Katara reciprocated the motion.

"Good morning Sifu Hama, Master Pakku."

"Morning to you too, Katara,"

Pakku said nothing to her, but turned on his heel and lead the way. Katara glanced at the side of her, spotting another group of students going in the same direction she was. Through the thickness, she was able catch a glimpse of a certain raven-haired noblewoman and a dart-throwing girl.

"We're going to the training grounds with the Special task Force," Hama explained, sensing Katara's confusion. "We will be doing an assessment of sorts, and need to know where your abilities lay."

She nodded mutely, still staring at the crowd. Her stomach felt all bubbly at the thought of going through another assessment. The last one she's had broken her rib and bummed her knee. Although she doubted her test would be nearly as difficult as the last (the other was unfairly outnumbered) she still wasn't in a very good mood. Granted she was a bit more comfortable fighting (a month of solid training did that to someone) but she didn't believe she good enough to impress a Master Waterbender and a Master Bloodbender.

'_You've impressed the Fire Lord,' _her brain countered. True, but she still couldn't figure out what the Fire Lord had saw so _particular _about her. She could Bloodbend—_whipty-do-da-day_. There had to have been plenty of other Waterbenders out in the world who could Bloodbend besides her!

"_There's been quite the shortage of Waterbenders for the past 15 years, Katara. I can only assume that the number of Waterbenders left in this world can be counted on your fingers."_

…Damn it!

She didn't even notice they were already at the training grounds until another student roughly bumped into her, bringing her to attention. A sharp retort was on the tip of her tongue, but he couldn't find the culprit. Wide blue eyes roamed over the small crowd of people one time before lowering. There was no use, that damned coward already disappeared.

"Katara! Stop daydreaming and walk!"

"Yes, Master Pakku!" and she picked up the pace, half sliding half walking down the small, icy decline that led to the training citadel. The Task Force leader opened the door, and the student poured in, murmuring quietly to each other. Wind howled in her ears, and her eyes struggled to adjust to the even dimmer setting of the closed-in area. The light layer of snow lying on the frozen floor billowed and swirled around in the harsh gusts.

There was a loud grunt, and then the torches all around the inner-citadel lit up, blazing fires dancing on their wicks. Everything inside of the area was then illuminated with a flickering, orange glow, presenting the racks of weapons, targets, ropes, bokkens, and other things one would need for survival in battle.

Katara opened her mouth slightly, a sharp intake of air interrupting her normal breathing. There were so many sharp, deadly weapons and swords in just this one area…Axes big enough to chop down a tree in one swing, swords long enough to go through one side of a person and straight out the other, blades sharp enough to cut cleanly into someone's throat…she didn't want to know what the Special Task Force would be trained to do because she doubted their practice would go without bloodshed.

Hama gently pulled at her arm, and Katara followed behind her. Her Sifu pointed her hand to the human-like, straw targets.

"We want to see how well your aim, precision and accuracy is." The old woman spoke gently. Katara nodded, thinking of a stance that would do best for aim…

'_Firebending,' _her mind answered, thinking of the two weeks of learning about Firebending fighting styles.

She spread her legs apart and squatted lightly, her arms drawn at either side of her.

"Begin!"

Katara quickly raised her arms, bringing dozens of tiny daggers out from the ground and into her control. She shifted her legs and swung her arms downward, a torrent of ice hitting each target square in the chest. Swiftly raising another batch of ice knifes, Katara decided to listen to Chou's advice and incorporated her flexibility into her movements.

The young Waterbender flipped into her two hands and twisted her legs in a spiral motion. The ice pins followed in suit, and much to her dismay, pierced erratically into the targets.

'_So much for aim.'_

Flipping back on her feet, she raised big pillars of ice from the ground with long, sweeps of her feet. She lashed her arms out—_right arm, left arm, right arm, left arm_—repeatedly, a slice of the pillar tearing off and spiraling at the targets with each fluid movement. The first three targets were completely obliterated, but the others still stubbornly standing.

Quickly growing frustrated (and tired) she changed from Firebending stances to Earthbending stances, to _hell _with precision! She stamped her foot on the ground and with assistance of her hands; spears of ice rose from the ground and skewered the targets, one row at a time.

Too consumed with her target butchering, she failed to notice Pakku's shouts telling her not to _completely destroy _the targets. But bending the ice was hard and noisy so she couldn't hear him until there was nothing but straw strewn all around the training grounds. She panted heavily, sweat dripping down her flushed face, and she bent over on her knees.

'…_I think I bombed this test.' _she thought bitterly, her face hot with shame and embarrassment. By then, the Task Force had stopped practicing to witness the mess caused by the Waterbender. There was mixed emotions coming from the crowd. Awe—at the fact that someone hadn't decided to get up and bludgeon her yet—bewilderment—because she just destroyed the only targets Region Two could afford—and anger crossed their faces, a replica of the emotions playing inside of their minds.

She sighed and turned around, ignoring the glares the Task Force was giving her. Both Master Pakku and Sifu Hama were speechless, although not exactly in the way she'd want them to be speechless.

"Um, well." Hama began. But she worked her jaw a couple of times, searching for the right words. "Well…at least we know you can turn ice into water…"

'_Gee, Katara. Amazing. You got praised for turning ice into water on an accuracy assessment. Just amazing.'_

If there were any time she needed Agni's blessing, it would be right now.

* * *

"_**Y**__ou can always go out into the square or the market if you'd like._ Although most students aren't allowed to, you are a Red Warrior and can do most of what you please."

Chou's words were not even remotely comforting, she concluded, walking back to her dorm. Master Pakku and Chou recently were speaking of her performance, and needless to say, she didn't do too well. And the problem wasn't that she was a horrible bender, it was because—as Pakku so sorely put it—_"Katara's as stubborn as a komodo rhino. Instructions go through one ear and out the other with her. Her skull is thicker than my parka, and my patience is running thin quickly."_

'_Damn him.' _she hissed in her mind, the thought of being stuck with Master Pakku for a couple of months—or possibly years—making her stomach churn.

Katara sighed and ran her fingers through cold, sweaty brown locks.

"Chou, I'm not really a big fan of throwing my rank around like a stone. People here already don't respect me, and I'll only be making matters worse by doing that."

He nodded his head slowly.

"Oh, I apologize then, Lady Katara."

"No need to, you didn't know."

She spotted her room just a couple of doors down and waved off the elder Red Warrior. He gave her a brief smile and briskly walked away to do whatever business he had here. More than likely he was going to send that damned progress report to the Fire Lord. She could just imagine the look of disdain on his Majesty's face, knowing that the Water Tribe _peasant_ was already wrecking havoc in Region Two. On the second day. Already.

She sighed tiredly and opened the door, only mildly surprised to find the room empty (it was night time, she would expect everyone to be in by now). Taking this opportunity to take a hot—or possibly cold—shower, the young Waterbender stripped off all of her clothes and hopped in the small tub. The water—as she expected—was freezing cold. Katara had no idea if there was a Waterbending technique that heated water, and if there was one, she needed to learn it _now_.

She dunked her head in the cold water, running tan fingers through curly, tangled hair. After a short while, she got used to the cold and just relaxed against the sides of the tub, her previously labored breathing returning to its usual state. After a good twenty minutes or so—her time in the bathtub was mostly spent making tiny ice-darts and practicing aim—she got out and dressed herself in one of the red parkas Lu brought in.

Still, no one was in the small room. She was about to lie down and take a well-earned nap when she spotted a white slip of parchment on the floor in front of the door. She walked over—slowly, because her body still ached—and picked it up, reading its contents slowly, a small smile forming at her lips.

'_Crafty old man…'_

"_Lady Katara,_

_As you can probably tell, I am no longer as young as I used to be. The cold is very, very bad for my joints and I'm afraid I can no longer make that long journey into the Square's market to restock on my oolong tealeaves. I apologize for having to disturb you at such a time of night, but I need for you to get them for me._

_Sincerely,_

_Master Chou, Senior Red Warrior_

_P.S. If you see anything in the market you like, just charge it to the papers on the back!"_

"Going into the Square?"

"Agni!" Katara hissed, dropping the paper in her hands. She whipped her head around, her forehead nearly crashing into Mai's, hadn't the other girl swiftly moved back. Regaining her composure, she picked up the note from the floor, her heart hammering in her chest.

"What are you," Katara growled, straightening out invisible wrinkles on her clothing. "A ninja or a secret assassin? I refuse to believe you're _just_ a noblewoman with a penchant for throwing darts."

Mai shrugged, disregarding her question. "Are you going to the Square?" she repeated.

Katara sighed, stretching her arms to loosen her tense muscles. "Yeah, I'm being requested to run to the market to get some tea leaves."

"If I were you, I'd run there quickly." Mai said, climbing onto her top bunk. "It's an hour from curfew. Anyone left on the streets are immediately thrown in jail."

Blue eyes widened a fraction in disbelief. "Why are they so…" she trailed off, trying to find a word for this idiocy the leaders of Region Two decided to turn into a law.

"Paranoid? Over-the-top? Stupid?" Mai shrugged her narrow shoulders. "I'm not sure. Probably has something to do with the prisoners—"

"_Tribes people_." She corrected, the term "prisoner" not fitting for the wrongly jailed Water Tribe people.

"—there. I've heard they've been in high security mode ever since the Northern Rebellion."

Katara nodded her head slowly, taking in the information.

"Thanks for the info, Mai."

The Mainlander shrugged again. "You might wanna' get moving. You're still on a time limit."

"Oh, right!" She clutched the paper in her hand and ran out the door, pumping her legs as fast as they could go. Students—the few still wandering around the hallways—moved out of her way, trying not to get bowled over in her sprint. Her movements were limited in the thick parka, but she still found herself making good time, exiting out of the barracks in record time. The cold, night wind stung her blistered cheeks, her eyes squinted against the snowflakes flying in her direction.

She could see the outer citadel that surrounded the training base, and it was then that she allowed herself to jog the rest way. The guards at the entrance stood at either side of the large, wooden doors, their bodies clad in a dark red parka.

"State your name, rank, territory and business." One of them spoke monotonously, though nearly yelling over the winds that steadily picked up.

"I am Katara of the Hóng Yǒngshì. I am from Province One and I need to travel outside of the citadel to go into the square. I need to run an errand for Master Chou."

The guards looked at each other, and then eyed her head-to-toe. One of them sighed—loudly—before turning around and pushing the doors open, the other joining him shortly. The old wooden doors creaked and cracked under the pressure of both males' hands. The wind from the other side of the citadel rushed in, nearly knocking her off of her feet with the force. She raised her arms and shielded her face until the winds died down.

The guard on the left scratched her name down on a piece of parchment, logging her whereabouts and the time she left.

"You have forty-two minutes to return to the Training Base or else you will be thrown into prison with the rest of your people." The one on the right—a Mainlander—commented. She rolled her eyes at him.

"I suggest you be quick—the guards on the other side are a lot worse then this guy." The one on the left joked, jerking a thumb at the other. He ripped out a piece of parchment—her excuse note in case of questioning before the curfew—and waved his hand towards the exit. Katara nodded and scurried over to the other side.

There were cleared pathways with torches on either side that led to different areas. The small wooden sign—nearly unrecognizable due to its wornness—pointed straight and read _market_. She scurried down the empty, torch-lit pathway, trying to make it to and from the market within forty or so minutes. It didn't take her long to notice what Mai said about the over-the-top security around the nighttime being true. There were guards posted on nearly every turn, sharp swords and axes held tightly in their hands, emotionless faces and rigid postures making them look like daunting, shadowy statues. Her breath quickened and she sped up her pace, dashing into the square as if it were a haven. There were a couple of stores open around this time, but not many. Only the essentials like a small grocery store, a weaponry shop and a run-down-looking pharmacy.

Her hand pushed open one of the doors and a small _ding _from the bell above went off. The grocery store, to no surprise, was relatively small with only a few isles and shelves of food. Most of the stuff there was already gone or needed to be restocked. This wasn't something she hoped to see.

She briskly walked down the isles, looking around for the tea section. There were grains, vegetables and fruits (the few that survived), water (which was frozen) and other things she didn't have time to look at. On the second isle, she found the tea section, but much to her dismay, they tea she was looking for came up missing. Blue eyes skimmed over the tea boxes' names, but yet she still couldn't find the tea Chou wanted.

She momentarily had the idea of just grabbing any box of tealeaves and giving it the aging man, but she already heard his passionate speech about the drink and doubted she could get away with it anyway. She walked around the store a couple of times, looking for a worker that happened to be on a late shift.

"Hello?" she called out. There was a loud shuffle on the other side of the store, and moments later the sound of footsteps. She let out a sigh of relief, still aware of her dwindling time limit. The said employee poked her head into the isle, eying Katara through tired eyes.

"Nee' any 'elp?" the older woman slurred, rubbing her darkened eyes with a frail wrist. Katara nodded, pointing at the tea—well lack thereof—on the shelf.

"Do you have any more oolong tealeaves?" she said, speaking slowly so that the woman with graying hair could process her words. The lady blinked a couple of times, staring at Katara blankly for a few beats. She then nodded and shuffled away, a quiet "_follow me_" faintly heard. The woman opened up a small door that led into an even smaller room. The elder lit a lantern and hung it on the doorknob to illuminate the small, dark storage room. She then began her agonizingly long search for the oolong tea.

Growing quickly impatient and wary of her time, Katara spoke.

"Look, if you don't have any—"

"_Patience_, child." She drawled out in a lethargic tone, waving her finger around.

'_Oh Agni, give me the strength.'_

"Ah-ha. Found it!" she said turning around to hand Katara the tealeaves. Katara pulled out the piece of paper she was supposed to use to pay for the tea, but the lady was already too busy kicking her out of the store to worry about money.

"It dun' matter," she said slowly. "Ya' 'ave only fifteen minutes to 'et back to ya' home."

That was Katara needed to hear, because in that very moment, she ran nearly as fast as an Eathbender-powered locomotive. Her footsteps were loud and echoed in the dark night—the torches have already been put out. Her breathing came hard in short pants, and her legs protested against moving so fast. But at the moment, she didn't really care. The outer citadel could be seen faintly in the snowfall, so she could assume she was getting closer to her destination, hope rising in her chest. But the way the guards now seemed to have animated and leered at her squashed that bubble of hope. Her time was running out, she knew it.

But her legs didn't give up. She forced herself to move faster despite the burning in her lungs. Wet tears leaked out the corner of her eyes from the wind whipping her face in icy lashes.

'_Almost there, almost there.'_

The wooden citadel could be seen clearly now. Her hope skyrocketed.

'_I can make it, I can make it.'_

Her leg muscles tightened.

'_I can make it.'_

Her leg muscles twitched.

'_I can make it.'_

Her legs began to spasm.

'_I can make it.'_

The ground was suddenly a lot closer than she remembered, and it was when her face smashed against the snow did she notice she just fell.

"'_Anyone left on the streets are immediately thrown in jail.'"_

Her arms didn't want to listen, nor did her legs. Her heart beat sped up, panic coursing through her veins.

"'_I suggest you be quick—the guards on the other side are a lot worse then this guy.'"_

She could hear the chorus of footsteps.

_"'There's been quite the shortage of Waterbenders for the past 15 years, Katara. I can only assume that the number of Waterbenders left in this world can be counted on your fingers.'"_

They'd probably be missing one more Waterbender by the end of the night.

She felt her body being jerked up from the floor and hauled to her feet. But her legs quivered and refused to stay up right, and much to her indignation, she fell the floor again with a thud.

"_Ugh_! Stupid _bitch_! Get'up!"

She felt herself being roughly yanked up by her hair and onto her knees. Since her legs still couldn't support her—not even in such a position—her support fell onto her hands. One of the guards squatted down to her eye level, menacing, shadowed, amber eyes glinting underneath heavy head-armor.

"Ya' know it's past curfew, right?" his deep voice spoke lowly.

Katara tiredly narrowed her eyes in what she hoped was a scowl. She heard him blow air through his nose in the beginning of a raspy chuckle. Rough hands gripped either side of her face and forced her head up.

"I _said_," he hissed. "Do ya' know it's past curfew, right?"

She's had her fair share of run-ins with the "law" before, she knew it was best to stay quiet despite the retorts and swears that threatened to escape her mouth.

Both sides of her face suddenly went from cold, to warm, and then the temperatures rose to scorching hot. It took her muddled mind a moment to realize he was _burning _her.

She clawed at his fingers until she felt wet, sticky liquid under her nails, and a pained swear pierce through the silence.

He yanked his hands away. For a moment Katara thought she was free, but his boot connected to the back of her head. Whatever hope she had left vanished.

"Take her away!" she heard him yell. But her ears were ringing so badly, she wasn't even sure if she heard right. She couldn't tell if she was being lifted up again or tossed around, because the world was spinning and colorful lights danced across her sight. All she knew was that there was painfully loud _SLAM _of a metal door, and the familiar loud footsteps and smell of a Komodo rhino.

For a moment, she thought she was back in Province One, obscured behind a thick curtain where no one could see her. But even the shadows behind the drapes wasn't this dark.

* * *

_Learning is a gift that follows one everywhere._

* * *

**A/N: Did I mention I loveeeeeeee cliffhangers? Yeah. I love cliffhangers. This chapter was originally going to be twice this size, but I didn't want to bore you guys, so. XD Next chapter is going to be a shit-ton more interesting than this one, I swear. A lot of shit happens in the next one, so watch out for it!**

**Also, if Chou seems like a Gary Stu, TELL ME. XD Nothing I hate more than Mary Sues/Gary Stus!**

**Next chapter, lots of stuff goes down, I'm telling you again. Be prepared. It will be nearly as eventful as—oh ho, lewk, foreshadowing—Chapter 6, which will be when ALL SHIT hits the fan.**

**Side Note: Edited chapter two's mistakes.**

**-Luna**


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